Niagara Falls - A me me day

I have not taken two Saturdays off work in a row since I have begun to work Saturdays. When I was thinking about a retirement job, I actually thought of being a real estate agent. I love looking at houses and their interiors. However, I did not want to work nights or weekends. This was my time. At last weeks conference I was speaking to a therapist from London and when I asked him about his schedule, he said his schedule includes two evenings (from the three he used to work) and Saturdays. I began working Saturdays to accommodate people who simply could not see me at any other times. It has been a very busy month and so I took my day to go to Niagara with no regrets, even though I did think a lot before making that decision. So yesterday I went to Niagara with my own prescription of self - care. I go girl! One woman was late for our bus since she was coming from the middle of no where near Mississauga. While waiting for her, I asked our host if it was ok to run across to the bakery and grab a coffee to go. I wish she had said no. I bought the coffee and chocolate covered cream cone. I would have rather have had something more substantial but there was no such thing in the bakery. I had asked if the cone was made fresh this day and I was informed it was by the young clerk. I should have asked the owner because she normally tells me quite grudgingly whether it is or not. That is why I prefer Italian bakeries. Italians like fresh and not to sell fresh would be insulting to them (now who’s stereotyping? I’m bad!) Needless to say I did not feel too well for most of the day. Our first stop was Niagara on the Lake. I have never been there in the winter. The first thing that happened in the friendly town, was some store clerk coming out and telling our driver to park elsewhere. I guess he was wasn’t looking forward to have a load of customers walk into his store. Now if I was the shop keeper, I would have invited all in personally and then maybe telling them after they had bought so much, that perhaps they should park where it is more convenient for them such as a parking lot. But, what business sense do I have????? Niagara in the Lake or on the Lake, is a favourite spot for many people who I know. I prefer Niagara Falls, but this would be a hot spot for me, if I lived in Niagara Falls. It is a nice stretch of road and I think I could be motivated to cycle there and remain in one piece without being killed by traffic. I really do need to get back in shape. I hear complaints however, from people who know people, who know people, who have moved to Niagara on the Lake area, who come running back to Toronto, because they become bored. I remember after I retired the first time and began my second career, how exciting it was to be bored. I was riding my bicycle around and one man once yelled out from his stopped vehicle at a light stop, asking me if that was all I did all day. His passenger gasped. “Hell no, I drink coffee too! I responded quite graciously. His passenger relaxed. It was not long that I realized that I would have to do more. But it definitely was a nice holiday. So we are in Niagara on the Lake and my buddy, a 95 year old WW11 vet and I stroll into shops where I am hoping to find a Christmas gift for a sibling of mine. All requires personal taste so I am concerned. I see a Starbucks and I am in my glory though my stomach is acting up from a few hours ago of eating the old cream cone and awful coffee I could not finish. Drink water my buddy says and let it go through your system. I always listen to those older and wiser and so I do not get a coffee and have no coffee for the rest of the day. My stomach is crying and I am sure I have been poisoned. Outside of Starbucks there is a small party of people and two dogs. One person hails out to us and so we stop. Now, we only have an hour to explore, but we are polite being from Toronto and all, so we stop and converse, all the while being mindful that more socializing means less time shopping to find that gift I really need by next weekend. Everyone has spent time in the military or knows someone from the military etc….Niagara on the Lake is a nice place to live, we hear, and the dogs love the pool and it is surprisingly cheap. People living there come from everywhere………..After a while, another man and dog joins us and the man is very nice looking. However, we need to leave so we can see at least a few shops. As we are leaving I am asked if my buddy is my father and I respond without realizing that I am being my rude self, that my dad was much younger. All dads should be young so they can skip along the sidewalk and be silly incognito. It teaches you that you can be silly at any age and it is ok. It teaches you that you do not need to be serious all the time, and that it is ok to have silly fun, even if it is skipping down the street with your prim and proper family. As we leave the group, I tell my buddy, that perhaps I am not friendly. Maybe it is true what people say about Torontonians. They were too friendly I cry out. How do you get away from too friendly people if they live next door to you? How do you hide? It is easy in Toronto. If I want people I sit at the front, if I want alone time, I sit in the back. Yes, people come and find me in the back but that is in small samples. With the small group outside Starbucks I defended Toronto. That can become quite tiresome. I say that people from Toronto are friendly. I say that people come from all over to live there and perhaps they are not friendly. Yes people are busy going to and from work and people are busy on their lap tops and etc….but people are friendly unless they are busy going somewhere, are actors trying to be invisible, are people stressed out or just want to be left alone. What is wrong with that??????? “I am not friendly!” I cry out to my buddy at my new discovery. “Do you think they were too friendly?” He asks quite seriously. “Yes.” I respond. I want to shop. I have a week to get organized to host a party and I am no where close to being ready for it. My stomach is still crying. We walk into a bakery shop and I see scones. Real scones are so hard to find and this is as close to it as I have seen in a while. I check out the prices and then see day olds for half the price. I squeeze them and it is the freshest squeeze I have felt in a long time. Now this is fresh and it is really a day old, less than a day I am sure, so I buy a pack. I have very little money on me and this is the last of it, since I did not have time to go to the bank. I was waiting for my office love seat to arrive from Bad Boy all day Friday. It arrived near the end of the day and as the delivery men turned it over, what do I see but “made in China.” I purchase my coveted scones and we leave needing to find our bus. We do not want to stay in Niagara on the Lake where most of the shops are still closed because it is too early. I am looking for the “back Friday” sales and I do not seem to see any. Is it because it is not Friday? Next stop is a wine tasting. I want to buy some wine for my party. However, the wine is all too fruity which they brag about. “If I want fruity, I would buy some fruit juice and pour some alcohol in it.” I say to anyone in my vicinity who may be interested in my friendliness. My stomach is begging me to stop torturing it and is not letting me forget it. I begin to feel myself getting dizzy. How can you get drunk sipping a bit of wine? Others complain about feeling dizzy too so I begin to believe that this is the new normal. You taste fruity wine and you all feel dizzy. I did not buy any wine. I do not want my guests to get dizzy with fruity wine. I decide I do not like the taste of fruity wine, but remind myself that they do make wine with grapes. However, I like the taste of full rich wine that is not sweet and yet not dry. We leave the fruity palace and I eat cheese and crackers our host provided so I do not feel dizzy any more. We head out to the Italian restaurant where we wait a full hour between our soup which was very good to the main course. At least that is what my buddy tells me. He is quite upset about the long wait and then I mention the million dollar reviewer from England who complains if he has to wait. Now I understand why he complains. My now two companions are trying to figure out who the reviewer is and one mistakes him with another who he calls a dog because he finds him so rude. No this guy is not rude, I respond. He does not yell at people nor calls them names. I only watched the “dog” for about five minutes before changing channels. His name fails me. I report that this guy goes around to different cities in different countries and checks out about three restaurants and then picks one to write a review and it is called a million dollar review, because the reviewer is apparently well known according to him and he can make a restaurant completely turn around from being unknown to famous. I think he is a nice guy, not like the “dog” they are talking about. I am trying to understand why they are calling him a dog. I like dogs. They provide unconditional love. Dogs are kind. I encourage them to watch the show, because it gives you a taste of each city. You see some of the scenery and get a good impression of the city. I leave about half of my entire meal and skip the dessert. I drink lots of water and my stomach thanks me. I go to the bathroom and realize that my buddy was right. We are told to rush as our bus is going to leave. My buddy is still eating dessert and drinking his tea. The other companion left before the main course because he was hungry and he had food in the bus. My companion is unconcerned about rushing to the bus because he is still upset, that he had to wait for an hour. That was a discussion in itself. Why does it take an hour if they knew we were coming? All the possibilities were explored. Someone didn’t show up for work etc……. I remind him that TIP is to insure prompt service. One did not tip at all, after all he went to the bus to eat his own food. Why isn’t the tip included in the price? Finally, we get to go to the Casino to watch the ice show. My stomach is beginning to thank me for drinking all that water. Who knew? The show is amazing. I love it. I tell my small audience of buddies that if I lived in Niagara Falls I would go to all these shows. They have great seats and the prices are wonderful. Yes, I could live here in a house with a pool for me and not my dogs (as if I would have a say) and watch all the shows at the casino. When I miss people, I would go to Clifton Hill and look at them. I would have a home office and not need to rent an office. Now that is what I call retirement. I could write my books by the pool after a swim and feed a new Melissa. I would have to cover the pool, so little animals do not drown. Should I or shouldn’t I? That is the question. The show is a success. We are singing with the singers and my buddy tells me that most are not really singing at all, it is a tape. I don’t want to believe that and we have an argument about it as we watch the show which we all love. “I should know” I am a singer, buddy states. “Who cares” I think. My bubble is burst. I want to think that they are all really singing as we sing along with them because we are all quite in the festive season. It is over and my buddy reports the time. I realize that buddy is really conscious of time. Why does time matter when you are 95, me thinks. The show is over and most of the audience is standing. Happiness is contagious and everyone is smiling at one another while some are checking some out. I smile in return because I am from Toronto and I am friendly, as we all are in Toronto. Buddy and I go to the Casino where we get to spend the $10.00 they put on our individual cards. We find a five cent machine, which I thought would last a while and in about a minute my $10.00 is gone. “How did that happen?” The woman at the next machine tells me how it happened and she tells me that she has one hundred in her machine and I am stupid to be playing with only $10.00. She actually said that she is playing with $100. and that I should’t be playing if I do not expect to lose money. She then called me stupid. “Stupid? I reply. “You are the one playing with one hundred dollars. I go to the bank machine because I really do need to buy some gift or other. I am charged 3.00 for getting my money. What will they think of next? Did I ever mention fuel costs for delivery of mail? The woman who called me stupid is watching me and laughing so I go up to her. I ask her how much she had already lost. She tell me she lost 200. so far (on top of the 100 in the machine). I suddenly feel very bad for her. I place my hand on her shoulder and tell her to take care of herself. Buddy is sad too. “Does she use her entire pension to gamble?” They should control that more.” I reply. We generate an entire conversation on how that can be controlled, with cards required to play, with limits recorded ……………. We go shopping. I do not like shopping, but buddy loves it. I am wondering if I will not have a gift for my sibling. How can I let that happen. Then I see it. It is small but good quality and sibling likes quality so I buy it. I cannot reveal what it is in case sibling is reading this. I buy one bottle of wine which I consider good after sampling some more. I also buy a bottle of some coffee cream liqueur which does not taste to shabby. I have bought my stuff and I remark to buddy how much I could have spent if I had 300. to do so. I want to find a restaurant with a view of the falls, buddy being cheap at 95 wants Tim Horton’s. We compromise. There are no seats to view the falls that I care for. What I want is empty but reserved. I am told that they have something better for me. I do not think so because I am from Toronto and am used to being scammed and lied to. So, we go to Tim Horton’s. I have soup with Tea. That is what I have when I am sick. Buddy and I hang out looking at the Christmas trees. I have seen two people I recognized from York University. I see my favourite psychology professor. She is too far for me to reach and she disappears in the crowd. The other, well…… It is time to go. We are not going to go by the falls because Disney did not renew the contract and there is no Mickey Mouse to see. How disappointing that is. Apparently with no Disney, the lights are not anything to look at and now they charge buses $125.00 to look at lights. Surprise, surprise. It is late and we drive back to Toronto. There is a traffic jam. Really???? Then I see it, the car on its’ roof. I say a little prayer for who had been inside. We are back in track and I close my eyes so I do not have to see when I go up the Burlington bridge. Of course it never fails. I open my eyes and we go up the Burlington bridge. We are making good time, but it is still after 9pm when we see the lights of Toronto. I feel a warmth generating inside me. I love my city. It is alive. As I type this, I think, I love New York more. It is more alive. But, I would love a house with a pool near the border so I could afford to shop on the other side. Addiction is a big problem. If you think you have an addiction problem go for help. If you don’t have an addiction problem but those close to you tell you, that you do, ask someone you trust if that is so. If you really don’t think you have an addiction problem, why not appease your close ones by stopping whatever that is. Can you stop? No? Why is that? What do you think?