Good-Bye Charlie, Hello Camaro

I have been keeping secrets.  SO many juicy secrets.  I'm in the mood to spill some beans so today I'm sharing a fun secret - plus it comes with the bonus of some embarrassing photos of me...

Here's the story:

Some of you are on a first name basis with Charlie, the 1992 lime green Dodge Colt I've been dragging around the province for the last 10 years.  He was my (beloved) first car.

When Hubby and I moved from our home town in 2007, we thought we'd both need a car to commute to work and school, so we bought a new Nissan Versa and also drove Charlie with us.  We realized very quickly that we only needed one car and the Versa was the obvious choice because it was more reliable for driving 16 hours back home to see family.  But I couldn't bring myself to let Charlie go! 

Instead, I convinced Hubby that we should fix him up and rally race! 

We lined up racing insurance (a little prematurely, lol) and brought him to my grandparents' rural property a few hours away, having sized up their spacious garage as the perfect place to turn Charlie into a rally racer.  But we rarely did any work on him when we were visiting because we were plied with too much good food and sat comatose until our visits ended.  When we moved cities to our townhouse we moved him with us and paid to store him in a heated garage close to our house.  But we still never worked on him.

Racing plans always took a back seat to more reasonable plans, family obligations, financial constraints - boring adulting.  Eventually our rally racing dream faded and we opted for less expensive outdoor storage but I still couldn't say goodbye because there were too many happy memories associated with him!  In fact, Handy Hubby and I were dating when I decided to paint him lime green (in my future father-in-law's rural field).

Hubby (then Buildy Boyfriend) and I hit a rough patch and probably would have broken up - if my half painted car hadn't still been parked at his dad's!  As we logged long hours sanding, painting, re-sanding, re-painting, and commuting to work together in Hubby's ancient van, Hubby and I settled back into a happy relationship.  Fast forward many years and I've been with Hubby for half of my life (and 9 years of marriage).  I have Charlie to thank for at least some of that bliss.

Plus - rally racing!  It would surely happen someday, right?

For some bizarre reason, I couldn't let go.  Charlie was a little piece of my past and a little promise of an exciting, adventurous future.

When we moved to the lakehouse we rented a dolly for a couple hundred bucks and hauled him behind our moving truck to our new home, where he lived outside for a year until we made room in the garage.  We finally admitted to ourselves that we'd never turn him into a race car, so I decided to make a porch swing out of him instead.  Hubby said no.  He is on board with so many of my crazy ideas, but he drew the line there.  Fair enough - I am building a giant Komondor in the backyard.  There's only so much weirdness one man can take.

I decided that I was finally ready to let him go (Charlie, not Hubby!), so we pushed him back outside but no one would come take him away for scrap, so he lived outside another year.

This past summer, I actually, finally, really did say goodbye - because we bought a brand new car!
 

The bold, bright green was just a weird coincidence... 

We had driven to Winnipeg, Manitoba for the weekend and decided to test drive some cars.  Our only running vehicle - a truck - had been giving us some troubles and had spent a lot of time in the shop, which was really inconvenient for us because we live an hour from the city.  Tired of having to beg, borrow and steal vehicles, we casually started thinking about getting a second vehicle, but I wanted something fun.  Something to race ;)  (I really don't learn).  We were really just planning to kick some tires, but after we sat in the 2017 Chevy Camaro 1LE, with a performance track package, you could barely pry us out if it.  We ended up getting a ridiculously good deal and 0% financing.  The Universe wanted us to have this car. 

A little stunned at what we had bought on impulse, we towed our new car home and decided to make use of the car hauler and finally say goodbye to Charlie.



This is where the photos get a bit gnarly because I hadn't washed my hair, body, face or teeth when these photos were snapped.  The only comment I'll make on my clothing is to remind you that I live in the sticks and this is considered dressy out here.

I just wanted to get Charlie winched before I changed my mind, so that's why personal hygiene took a back seat!

Instead of selling him for scrap, I donated him to Teen Challenge Canada.  It made it easier to let go, knowing he might be able to do some good. 

I don't know how or why I became so irrational about letting Charlie go, but I feel good that I finally did it!  We're making new memories in our new car, and I'm feeling much more confident about my chances of rally racing.  Just read this review from Car and Driver and watch this Lightning Lap to get a sense of what this car can do!  (Plus I've been saving up money for a supercharger...)

Thanks to our new ride, Hubby and I spent so much time together this summer.  When we weren't on the water, we were going for scenic drives.  Driving around Lake Superior in the fall - for no reason and no errands, simply for the pure joy of driving - was so relaxing.  We stopped at beaches along the way and enjoyed the scenery more fully than any other fall since we moved back here.

Somehow this fast car really made us slow down.

 
I had wanted to share the news, partly to joke about my kitchen reno being parked in the garage, but I hesitated sharing photos of our new car online because it's so bold and easy to spot.  Then we met a few Camaro drivers who informed us that there's tons of bright green Camaros in our city (what?!?).  In fact, family members always text us saying they spotted us somewhere (parked outside a grocery store or house) - but it's NEVER us, so that made me feel more comfortable, knowing I still have a lot of anonymity even in such a loud car.

So if you see this car parked somewhere, it's probably not me... once the snow melts, I'll be bombing down back roads, looking for the perfect spot to picnic and thinking about Charlie.

Our Stand Up Paddle Board Adventures on Lake Superior

For various reasons (both fun and decidedly un-fun), we decided not to launch our sailboat this year.  I was definitely disappointed about that, especially because I just love being out on the lake.  But after realizing last year just how much work owning a sailboat is, a little part of me was looking on the bright side and relishing the idea of a lazy summer just relaxing and exploring the bay with our canoe.  But when we flipped our canoe over for the first paddle of the season, we realized that bees had moved into one end of it, safely hidden behind riveted panels we cannot remove.

How does one deal with bees in a canoe? 

Drive into town and buy two stand up paddle boards!
 
Our interest in stand up paddle boards had already been piqued because friends of ours had them and were eager to go paddling on our bay of Lake Superior.  A canoe full of bees was the motivation we needed to get boards of our own, so we spent an afternoon checking out the local sporting goods stores and found the perfect stand up paddle boards, made right here in Ontario.
 
Learning to Stand Up Paddle Board

Learning to stand up paddle board was super embarrassing.  We didn't watch a single YouTube video or anything - we just pushed them out into the water and hopped on.  Hubby took to it much more quickly than I did, but we were both wibbly wobbly enough for a neighbor to comment: "not as easy as it looks," when she saw us the next day.  I think this implies that we were terrible at it and the whole bay was watching us.  In my defense, I have not fallen off - not once - but I did spend a lot of time shrieking, "I'm going to FALL" in the beginning.  I wasn't prepared for how high I would feel: because the water is so clear most days, when I can see right down to the bottom it was surprisingly trippy at first.  Plus any little ripple in the water felt like it would send me ass over tea kettle.

But I got used to it!

   
We were both off work for all of August so we went out almost every day and now I feel so much more confident paddle boarding.  I started by kneeling and then once I got a feel for it, I would stand up only when the wind was calm.  Eventually I found it less nerve wracking to stand where the water was deep because I was convinced that if I fell I'd crack my head open where it was shallow.  Probably an irrational fear, but paddling in deeper water ultimately helped me feel more at ease - even though it weirded me out at first.

Although we still definitely prefer calm days, we have also been out on crazy wavy days and I'm starting to love the feeling of getting tossed around.  I still cannot fathom how people actually surf because on even slightly wavy days here I feel like an extreme sports enthusiast - even though we stick to our extremely sheltered bay. 

On the day of the solar eclipse, though, the bay was dead calm so we actually paddled right out into the open water, which was such a cool experience.  We'd actually never been that far away from our bay because it's usually prohibitively choppy, so it was so exhilarating.  Although I felt very exposed being on this tiny little board in open water, it was also so peaceful.  Until I got distracted by the rocks.  I didn't realize that beneath the water out there are these massive boulders - the size of cars, polished so smooth into giant eggs.  I was really expecting a more sandy bottom, like in the middle of the bay, so I guess that's why I'm super fascinated by this discovery.  I also didn't realize how much random stuff is in the water, which is also super distracting because part of me hopes I'll find a chest of gold.

So far, no gold - just a lot of tires.  

Choosing the Right Stand Up Paddle Board

Choosing a paddle board was stressful because they're so pricey and every salesperson kept pushing the inflatable models.  We didn't really need the portability or small storage size of an inflatable board, although I did come very close to ordering this turquoise one from Amazon because of the color (of course) but also the great reviews and price - especially considering that it comes with an adjustable paddle and coil leash (even the paddle is aqua, I'm drooling).  Living right on the lake, we don't plan to bring ours anywhere so we liked the convenience of a rigid board - plus no possibility of leaks!  After spending days playing, "where is the air leaking from?" with the old inflatable Zodiac we use for our tender, neither of us were super excited about the inflatable paddle boards.  Once we started shopping though, we were blown away by some of the prices of the rigid fiberglass boards. 

We hadn't really planned to spend thousands of dollars per board but it really seemed that it was either that or a $500 plastic one from Canadian Tire that got ho-hum reviews online.  When a salesperson let it slip that the fiberglass ones are actually really delicate and they can't be dragged over rocks or anything rough, it seemed like we might not get paddle boards after all.  Luckily we stumbled across the perfect one at a local place (Chaltrek for my Thunder Bay friends - they rent them too).  The Inukshuk (by Clear Water Designs) is linear polyethylene with molded fins and it's durable as heck, which is perfect for our rocky shore.  Plus it has a deck bungie and a paddle holder, which is really convenient. 

The $799 price tag was a bit pricier than the Pelican ones from Canadian Tire, but our friend bought one of those and after we compared the two, we found ours was much more stable, plus the Pelican board weight rating didn't seem accurate because it seemed to really sink.  Plus I could get blue with the Inukshuk!

Do you like my t-shirt?  I know that the SUP lifestyle demands a slim blond gal in a skimpy bikini for photos but this is my paddle boarding tee - it has sharks on it :)



Hubby picked out a black and white board.  I quite obviously picked out his turquoise swim trunks.

Like so many hobbies, the cost of this one definitely added up pretty quickly.   

 
In addition to two boards, we also each bought a coil leash (a must-have) and an adjustable paddle (If I had money to burn, I'd totally splurge on this turquoise one).  I liked the adjustable style because when I was first learning if it got really wavy I'd kneel for stability and the adjustable paddle was great for that, plus it's perfect for sharing my SUP with friends and family when they come to the lake to play.  I almost always stand to paddle but a friend of ours only kneels and she uses a kayak paddle, which actually would be really nice on choppier days, so I am currently shopping for a small one (this one's cute!) to keep clipped to my board. 
 We both already had a life jacket but I'm thinking of buying a newer style that's meant for SUP and offers a better range of motion.  We both have one of these self-inflatable ones on the boat but I keep an older style from our early days of sailing at home and that's what I've been using for now.  For the last bit of "gear," they don't look very cool, but we found that these cheap water shoes from Walmart (wish I'd seen these aqua ones) are the comfiest option because they can get wet and still offer good traction - flip flops are terrible for paddle boarding and bare feet feels weird for me, especially when we hop on and off on our pebbly shore. 
 

In the end, I'm grateful for those bees moving into our canoe because we've been having SO much fun with our stand up paddle boards.  Now that we have the hang of it, it's really enjoyable and I love that there's no set up required: we just grab our boards and head down to the water and hop on.  It's such a great workout and such a beautiful new perspective of the lake.  My only complaint is that summer is ending soon and now I have one more reason to miss the warmer weather...

Nobody talk about fall!

Instead, tell me: have you tried stand up paddle boarding?          

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Lake Life Lately: Volunteer Fire Fighting

So...I have kind of crazy news:  Hubby and I finally joined the volunteer fire department in our municipality!  We'd been meaning to do this since moving to the lakehouse three years ago but, for some reason or another, we always moved it to the back burner.  We had tons of super good excuses: it was too cold, we weren't in shape, we were too busy, we were too content not being busy...

Finally, we just did it! We actually joined the fire department and the first response team so we'll be called for anything from motor accidents to house fires.  There's extensive training before we can actually become full fledged fire fighters (years) so picture me doing a lot of grunt work for the immediate future.  There is - unsurprisingly - a lot of work involved, including weekly training sessions and then extra training sessions that range from cleaning the fire hall to extracting people from vehicles (scary).  Because Hubby and I work weird shifts we're an excellent asset because we can take calls on 2pm on a Wednesday, when others are working their more typical 9-5 shifts, but it also means we'll miss a lot of training so it might take even longer for us to get fully trained.  My dreams of driving a big ass fire truck are still out of reach!  But I'm really thrilled to be able to give back to my small community in this way.



I'll admit I'm a little terrified, not only because of the fires I'll need to run toward instead of away from, but also of responding to a call where the situation might be a little gruesome.  I have always thought that I not good with blood, but after our tiler cut himself on a chop saw and I needed to drive him to emergency, I realized that I can overcome my natural inclination to toss my cookies at the sight of severed flesh when it's an emergency.  I can be cool and calm (and bomb down country roads like a bat out of hell) when I need to.

So I got this.

I think.

I can't share photos of any fires or other encounters to ensure the privacy of those impacted, so I likely won't be able to share too much of this part of my life but hopefully I can share some fun updates about training.  You'll at least have to see a photo of me all suited up once I finally get some gear.  Right now it's just very uncool coveralls and boots.  But for sure I'll look awesome, like I always do in safety gear (lol)!

We attended our first after math of a house fire recently and helped document the damage (yikes!).  It was heartbreaking walking through the burned out house and seeing the damage, but the person in question managed to get out okay, which was a relief. 

Our first act of duty: washing and manhandling the massive hoses.  See?  Grunt work for the newbies! 

And it was immediately apparent that I am going to have to start lifting weights.  Being out of shape was, in actuality, a pretty darn good reason for not joining, haha, but now I have the motivation to remedy that.  Any time I struggle with lifting something and want to call on Hubby for help, I start to chant "FIRE HOSE, FIRE HOSE" to pump myself up.  

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Lake Life Lately: Take Me Back to Punta Cana...

We're back (kicking and screaming) from Punta Cana! 

Hubby and I had never stayed at an all-inclusive resort before and it was such a bizarre experience.  Normally we holiday by traipsing through Europe in the rain, trying to take in every last castle and museum.  This was different because we never left the resort - and our wallets never left the safe.  It was weird to walk up to the bar or coffee shop and not pay.  But wow, was it nice!
 

We had such a fun time vacationing in the sun with our friends!  We unplugged, we read.  We drank too much, ate too much.  We fell asleep on the beach and developed bizarre sun burns.  It was incredibly relaxing - especially because we stayed at Breathless, an adults-only resort.  We toured the neighboring family-friendly resort and it was such a different energy.  The only bummer was that the weather was unseasonably chilly and we had a few windy and rainy a couple of days - the beach was even closed for a bit.  But we still had fun just hanging out (remember, the drinks are free!), plus we found the tennis court, which helped warm us up.  Even when it was too cold to swim, we strolled the beach and just enjoyed our toes in the sand.

I was deeply committed to fully relaxing on this trip.  I didn't bring my laptop, I barely looked at my phone, and I let my brain slip into neutral.  I also wanted to put down the camera.  I wanted to live in the moment, instead of frantically trying to capture it on camera.  So much of blogging is about always getting things in pictures and it really changes my experience of thing.  There were a lot of people doing incredibly in depth, sexy "photo shoots" in the waves - for social media, I'm betting.  One woman was completely taken out by a wave while she posed for the 100th angle, with her poor Instagram husband snapping away.  Meanwhile, I was down the beach like...

In hindsight, I wish I had more photos of the four of us - especially because I seemed to be wearing the exact same dress in the few photos we did take (despite dropping a ton of money on six new bathing suits and summer dresses!)  But in the moment, it felt so freeing to leave my camera and cell phone in the room safe.  On a particularly cold and windy day, Hubby and I did stroll around the resort and I snapped a few photos to remember how beautiful it was.

We were upgraded for free to a swim up room, which was AMAZING!  There was a squiggly shaped pool right outside our rooms and because the pool was hardly ever used, it felt like like a private pool just for us.  We were across from the "party pool" so we could hear the music and feel the vibes, without having to fight for a sought after deck chair.  I loved this little luxury so much. 

The party pool was just incredible - there was a swim up bar, too.  The whole resort had lots of places to swim and sunbathe.  The grounds were impeccably maintained, too - such beautiful plants!  

The resort rooms were gorgeous, with a little open air courtyard to greet us.  I never snapped a photo of the inside of our room because we made a mess of it in seconds, madly flinging on our swim suits for a (prohibited) evening swim our first night.  After that we put up a travel clothesline so we could wash and dry stuff, and from then on it was gotch-city in our room.  But there are some great photos on the website - the rooms really are that pretty in real life.

Sick of this dress yet?  I swear, I also bought this white eyelet one, this pretty green ikat one, this strapless maxi, this watercolor inspired one... There was even a pair of turquoise wedge sandals I have no proof existed.

To be honest, we only gussied up for dinner because during the day we tried to squeeze in as much time in the water as possible!  The resort was right on the ocean so it was a two second stroll through the resort pools, bars, and restaurants to reach the beach.  We've heard other resorts are larger and some even require a bus to reach the water.  This was so close we could hear the waves from our room.  We spent a LOT of time on the beach - you know me and being by the water!  There were a few "red flag" days, which meant swimming was prohibited due to waves, but we recklessly jumped in anyway and logged long hours in the ocean.

The ocean was GORGEOUS!  Crystal clear and surprisingly warm (as long as the weather cooperated)!  Our friends did some snorkeling close to the coral reefs but I was too scared of cutting myself on the coral.

I'm a little bummed we didn't have the nicest weather - resort staff kept apologizing for the bizarre cold front.  After spending weeks carefully buying a summer wardrobe, I spent a couple of nights wrapped up in Hubby's hoodie or under a blanket.  Although we had a few perfect days, I definitely could have been warmer, but that's just the story of my life.  Some day someone will surely engrave that on my tombstone: "Daughter, wife, feminist. She led a full life, but she could have been warmer".

Luckily the restaurants and bars were so chic (and the food was delicious), so we didn't mind lingering over breakfast or lunch while we watched for better weather.  One section of the main restaurant had a wood, green and teal theme - with cactus sculptures that I need to make right now! - that quickly became my favorite (I already shared a peek on Instagram because I was so smitten):

I left feeling inspired and I am definitely going to be adding some more beachy accents to the lakehouse, that's for sure - something to tide me over until we can go somewhere warm again!  Any suggestions for where we can escape winter next year? 



I swear, I really brought other clothes.

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Lake Life Lately: I Have a New Job!

I never intended to become a professional blogger.  I started blogging as a hobby, while I was in grad school, because I wanted to connect with other people who had small budgets and big dreams for their homes.  I've always loved making and creating, and it was just so thrilling to be able to chat with others DIYers.  To my surprise, Dans le Townhouse grew and by the time the blog became Dans le Lakehouse, I was making a nice little income.  I filmed videos with Canadian Tire, saw my house pop up on sites like Elle Decor and Better Homes & Gardens, and even parlayed the blog into some exciting freelance work for various Canadian retailers.  Behind the scenes, even crazier opportunities presented themselves - it has been a wild ride!

But secretly, I was applying to other jobs.

My job search is such a long story - with so many crushing disappointments - but I don't know if it's really all that uncommon.  Lots of my friends, with various backgrounds/education, have struggled to find work.  I was lucky I had a back-up plan!  I decided to start growing the blog more purposefully (wishing I had laid the proper groundwork to run the blog like a business when I started) and things were chugging along.  Looking back, I'm especially grateful that I had a flexible job like blogging to fall back on because when some terrible things happened in my family, I was able to be there.

But I pined for a different kind of job.

Recently I took another stab at looking for a job but I took a wildly different approach with my job applications.  I threw out every single piece of advice I'd been given over the years (and I had been given a lot) and just wrote my cover letters from the heart, keeping them casual and upbeat.

Well, guess what?  I landed interviews for every job I applied to and was offered two competing offers within days of one another, for two excellent jobs broadly (sorta, kinda) in my field - if I can even say that I have "a field" (I have a PhD in Feminist and Gender Studies and an HBA and MA in Philosophy).

I chose the one with flexible hours and a chance for adventure.  Hubby works a really weird work shift and a 9-5 job would mean I'd rarely see him, so I pounced at the opportunity to work a job that has similarly odd hours.  I always worry about sharing too much on the blog, which is why I've kept details like Hubby's first name, our last name, his place of work, our location, etc., private.  I am probably overly cautious, but I hesitate to share too much about new job too, although I will say it's in education.  I am currently training and I start in earnest very soon.  There is a lot to learn and that's why I haven't been posting here with the same frequency as usual.  I'm cramming, haha! 

But I'm not leaving blogland!

The best thing about my new job is that I can keep blogging.  In fact, my new boss has encouraged it, which is amazing because Hubby and I have so many great projects lined up - plus I'm collaborating with some really great brands I've been wanting to work with for years.  With my focus shifted to my new job and new research, I'm actually feeling so much more inspired these days.  I think my brain needed a little bit of a challenge - and probably a change of scenery - to get those creative juices flowing again.  Ideas for posts and projects are just pouring out of me right now.

I wanted to share my news to explain my absence but also because I wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who reads Dans le Lakehouse.  I never shared my employment struggles because I try not to let my problems seep into the blog.  There is an abundance of negativity in the world so the criteria for the blogs I read is simple: I like to be entertained, uplifted - and if I can learn something, that's a bonus!  I don't want to be mired in someone else's crazy drama, so I try not to foist mine on you.  But when I was feeling down, your kind comments and emails definitely propelled me forward, made me smile, and made me appreciate this job so much more. 

So I wanted to say thank you.  So much.  I think this year will be our best year yet!

P.S. The photos are from my home office makeover - if you missed it (and our DIY walnut waterfall desk) check out the before and after tour here.

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