Bills, Bills, Bills...

Well I've just spent a mammoth session paying all the bills online, does it ever end? The 'Property Tax' came in this week which is fun - not! They bill you 50% of last years assessment, and then once the new assessments have been calculated, they send you another bill, minus the amount you have already paid. Sneaky eh?
It doesn't have to be in until end of April, but I've set it up online in case I forget. Also paid the mobile phone bill (cell phone's here) and the Eastlink (cable) bill. All done online, so that's useful and saves me a pile of stamps!
Well it's hard to believe that Carolyn and Tim have been here for a whole week! Doesn't time fly. Obviously I've been working, but they've been out and about and we spent the weekend taking in the sights. Yesterday we did the Farmers Market downtown (located in the Alexander Keith's Brewery). It was the first time we'd been, so it was nice to see. Bought a clan crest which had been painted on one of the slats of an antique barrel. Clan Kerr of course...Apparently the Clan Motto is "Late but in Earnest". After that we drove over to Peggy's Cove and a walk around the Lighthouse (as you do...) and went for lunch in the Sou'Wester Restaurant which was as good as ever. Especially the Seafood Chowder.
Today we took a drive up to Martock to check out the facilities. Martock is the closest Skiing facility to us and is less than an hour away. Although small, it is excellent for learners and the children. We'll get them started skiing next year when we have a bit more time! (and hopefully some more snow - though they do have snow making facilities). We then carried on north to the Annapolis Valley, taking in the University town of Wolfville and along the north shore to Middleton, then south to Bridgewater for a spot of late lunch. We then stopped at the beach at East River to give Bella a walk along the sand. She's actually turning into the incredible Vomiting Dog every time she goes in the car. We'll have to take her more often on short journeys to try and get her used to it. She's okay once she's emptied her stomach! Hopefully it won't be a problem once she's down to one meal a day. Apart from that she's doing great. The pictures were taken at East River. During the week they also took a drive down to Mahone Bay and Lunenberg. The weather was a bit changeable apparently. They experienced everything - sun, hail and snow but no rain! Actually we've had very little rain since we got here which makes a change. Good job we didn't go to Vancouver - they've had loads of rain. The day they arrived it was 15 degrees - Matthew only had a T-Shirt on. It was glorious, needless to say it didn't last! We're back down to -4 tonight. I'm back to work tomorrow (Monday) so Deborah is back to the sightseeing (and the early morning walk to the school bus). Matthew and Emma are back to school after their week off. The only holidays they have between now and summer is a long weekend for Easter and a couple of teacher development days. Hopefully I'll finally get my internet access at work this week and I may get the opportunity to update this at work! On a brighter note, the order for my new desk has gone in so should have that within the next few weeks. Exciting stuff.....