Back in the driver's seat

Today was the first time in a month that I took the car out for a drive. My foot is finally feeling better. Not good as new, but good enough that I am able to drive.

It sure felt nice to drive to different parts of town. I felt too cooped up over the last month. Spending all that time in bed and not being able to go places can sure bring you down.

It is a beautiful autumn day here. Warm, sunny, and leaves changing colour everywhere you look. The autumn lasts a lot longer than in Canada. Well, definitely longer than in Saskatoon, and a bit longer than in Ontario and Quebec.

I like the sensation of a autumn wind on your face. It's not the harsh Canadian wind that chills you to the bone, but more of a gentle breeze bringing you the smell of nearby trees. I completely forgot about how autumn used to feel in my childhood and I am really happy to have a chance to experience it again.

Yesterday was kind of a stressful day dealing (again) with the Croatian bureaucracy. I guess that Carla's immigration papers were just sitting on someone's desk because the bank statement (???) in her application was not translated. Not like they would follow up and let us know that something is missing. Since Carla is scheduled to be flying back in 9 days, I was trying to get them to hurry up, but that's like trying to get maple syrup to flow up a tree. Impossible! There's a good chance that the paperwork will now be done on time, but there is a holiday on Wednesday which is not going to help the matter.

That's another thing that I noticed here. All holidays are fixed to a specific date. I remember moving to Canada and initially thinking how a 'third Monday of May' was stupid way to fix a day to celebrate a holiday. Over time, I began to appreciate the logic in this as it is kind of hard to have a long weekend if the holiday falls on a Wednesday. I am a full convert now to a fixed-day-of-the-week holiday as opposed to a fixed-date holiday! :-)