Another Christmas season come and gone

It’s been a great break. I’ve really enjoyed having time off, and I’m really happy to say that it was also a really fun and generally pretty relaxed Christmas.

Once M was finally free for the holidays, we headed down to the Sarnia area. Instead of the stress of wedding planning and having to drive between Sarnia and Kitchener, we were able to celebrate with both sides of the family all in one area. (Thanks Wends for hosting). It was really good – everything seemed easier and less overwhelming. It totally helps that the nieces and nephews now know me and are comfortable around me. In fact, the nieces were even a little besotted with me, getting annoyed if I didn’t sit between them. 🙂 M’s parents also finished the basement at their place so there was more room to juggle the 8 people and 2 dogs residing there. M and I even got to spend some time together, which was really nice seeing as it’s been crazy at times this year.

It was also really nice to not have to travel nearly as far to spend time with my family. It was really nice that everyone agreed to move the traditional call to Africa to a later time, seeing as this year the plans on their side of the ocean were a little different too. It was good to have a brief chat, because I have to say, I really miss that tradition when it comes to Christmas. Last year I was lucky, and I got to have my aunt and cousin here for a few weeks over the wedding, but still I missed it. Going forward, I really hope we can find a balance of getting to see my family and doing some of their regular traditions too. But we’ll work on it. Either way, dinner with Christmas pudding, mince pies and brandy butter really hit the spot.

Christmas spoils were good this year too. M splurged and got me a new camera seeing as my digital has been on the fritz for some time now. I was so surprised because I had convinced myself it was Degrassi High on DVD by the shape of the parcel. Oops! I got M an awesome Hurley shirt that he loves. Wends spoiled us with goodies from England. It was great. There were tons of other prezzies, but I won’t list them all so that people don’t get too bored!

Once we got back from Sarnia, Marty and I had some time to recover (ie spend his work bonus of gift certificatesto Yorkdale mall) before heading to Haliburton with friends to celebrate New Year’s. There ended up being 14 of us in the end, and it was pretty fun. We hooked up some prime ice skating on the lake and drank enough hot chocolate to last me for a while. We played card games and board games. It was fun and I enjoyed myself, though I do have to confess, I’m not really a New Year’s kind of gal. I don’t put that much stock in it so it doesn’t take much to for me to have at least a little bit of fun. I also have to confess I was really to get back home and spend time with M again after having so many people around all day long.

Now, I’m enjoying the last bits of my vacation. We had a nice dinner with Rachel and Nick last night. M and I hit the gym together today, which was good. It’s nice to have someone who knows what they are doing with the machines explain a few things to me. But reality also creeped in because I bought my school books today too while we were on campus. Sigh- I guess I really do have to go back to class on Monday.

At least I’ve got another book to finished before I get there. 🙂

A mammoth post for a mammoth weekend

I feel kinda bummed that I broke my daily blogging record, but it’s been really busy. (Plus, I was periodically unable to access my blog during the day, which makes it harder to blog regularly). Oh, and last week I had an appointment every evening, and I had two people’s workload all week. Blarg. That being said, it’s on to the fun of the weekend. 😉

Friday after work, M and I traveled to Sombra to visit his parents. It was a super easy trip, and barely and bad traffic – not even at the bottle-neck where the 401 and 410 meet. Crazy! We made it there around 8:30, and normally we arrive between 9:00 and 10:00. We has also arrived just before some serious rain, which was lucky as well. Soon it was bed time, but we woke up early on Saturday to enjoy the sunshine and great weather.  Well, truthfully, it wasn’t really that intentional.  The clock in the basement hadn’t been switched with day light savings, and was one hour later than it actually was.  So I woke up at what I thought was 9:00, had breakfast, and went for a swim – then discovered it was only 10 AM!  Seriously.

Oh well – it worked out well, seeing as Marty and I had a relaxed morning – and it was a good chance to catch up with everyone.  It was a full house, considering that Jen, Mike and the nieces were also visiting this weekend.  But of course, there was tons of space, tons to do outside and it was good to keep us all entertained.  Especially with the neighbours having a pool we were free to use at any time.

I called sister just after 11:00 and invited her to join the family – she couldn’t resist the lure of the pool either, and came for a swim and dinner just as the nephews and Marty’s brother came.  It was good – we had a really fun time chatting and playing “bumhole” (a.ka. Asshole), and even some Ucher with Marg.  After an awesome BBQ dinner, we all relaxed and went to bed quite early (yeah, like 10 pm).  Wow.

Sunday was nice too – when we got up, M and I had a nice little “just the two of us” breakfast set up for us on the deck.  Then just the two of us went for a swim, and it was really nice to have some time for just the two of us before the rest of the family came over to swim too.  We had a good time all around before we packed up and headed out.  The drive home was good too – we made it back to the city just around 6 or so.  M and I decided to continue to chilled out together time and watched Across the Universe and ate some pizza.  The movie was really, really good – I love Julie Taymor – and it was a nice evening.

Monday was a whole new adventure – I got up early and M dropped me off at Union Station so I could head to Oshawa to meet up with the girls from Apt 3.  It was good – I managed to find Nushin and Farah on the train and we had a chance to catch up.  Farah is back visiting from school, as she’s just about done her med degree at Leichester.  Nush is now back from the same program and working in Brampton.  It’s sooo good to have them back in Canada, so it was doubly nice to get a chance to find out what they’ve been up to. 

Once we got to the ‘Shwa, a very tanned Court picked us up and we got to catch up with her and all the things she’s been doing on her summer off (she’s a teacher).  We then got to see Al’s place and wedding pics while we waited to Jen – then we were off to the beach a Coburg.  I was totally impressed!  The beach there is really, really nice!  Plus it was the sand castle festival so there were tons of awesome things to see.  All of girls got to relax and catch up with what’s going on in each others lives and plot fun for our 5 year homecoming this fall for Queen’s.  Seriously, I love these ladies.  Can you imagine we’ve been good friends since we met in residence in first year?  Wow.

Overally, twas a good weekend – now I have to fast the rest of the dreaded Tuesmonday.

A very busy day

Today was full of stuff. Our planned trip to Sarnia had to once again be postponed because M has to work up north as of Sunday. Instead, we took a much needed trip to the K-dub to visit Mum and Dad. I was a good drive, we made it to KW in just about an hour, and we arrived a Mum’s at dead on 10:00, as planned! Woo! We swept Mum away to the Farmer’s Market – the first stop being a feast of totally amazing apple fritters – and then taking a stroll around the market. It was so blessedly hot that we made it a very quick trip, leaving with a few desired items – mainly fresh cherries and home-made Mennonite cookies. Yum!

After getting home M and I helped Mum with some much needed chores like mowing the lawn and changing the sheets on the beds. Mum’s recently had surgery on her hands for carpal tunnel, so she can’t do any of these things – we were glad to help out. We got lots done – we even made a trip to the thrift store to get rid of some of the things Mum didn’t want anymore. Then it was a well deserved lunch break – we tucked in in the basement, as it’s the coolest place in the house. Ugh!

Next we headed to SSH to visit Dad. He’s looking so much better – still very skinny, but that’s to be expected as he’s been in the hospital for about 10 weeks now and has only been doing physio for a small portion of that time. He’s up and walking around now, which is great, and he seems to be relishing the freedom he has at Sunnyside. Very good to see, as I think it’s improved his morale and want to get better. They’re projecting that he’ll make it home at the end of the month, which will be nice, though Dad will still have to do some serious physio at home too.

After the visit, M and I dropped off Mum and headed back to the city. We had a small shopping stop downtown, as M needed to replace a pair of jeans, and well, I just like to shop! 😉 Then we got some groceries, ate dinner, and have been vegging ever since. It’s nice. I’m sooo looking forward to be shortly, especially as we’ve got AC in the bedroom.

Tomorrow will be another adventure – though I’ve gotta say, I’ll really miss M this week – he doesn’t come back until next Sat. Love you, babe.

Signing off.

Blondie: Brad&Jana: New TV

This past weekend/week beginning has been full of activities.  Yeesh.  It’s no wonder I’m feeling the need for coffee this morning.  (Starby’s, of course).  And now you can read all about it!

Friday, as announced, M and I travelled to Casino Rama after work to hit up the Blondie concert.  I’ve never been to Rama, let alone Orillia before – so it was a new adventure.  Rama was cool enough – lots of very gambling oriented stuff (obviously) and lots of grey hair.  That’s not meant in a mean way, just a truthful one.  We had dinner, then headed in to the seemingly empty theatre for the show.  Our seats were pretty decent, and we spent the pre-show prep time playing a game of “spot the people younger than us!”.  Then the show started at about 9:03 (on time!  WOW!) and we were launched in to the awesome vocal stylings of the amazing Deborah Harry.  I couldn’t believe it!  She’s 63, and she’s still looks like she just walked on to the stage at CBGB.  Too cool!  Her voice was fantastic – and the band was great too – some of the original members and some new young’uns.  The drummer was really good – the only complaint was that the one guitarist was a little loud (even for M, so that’s saying something!)  The other thing I was totally impressed with was how much of a show the crew put on!  Everyone was wanting to address the crowd, and well, they looked damn good!  But then again, I’ve always maintained that Debbie Harry is one of the sexiest and coolest women in rock and roll!  Seriously.

After the concert, M took driving duty and we headed to KW to crash at Mum’s place.  (I, as per usual, fell asleep in the car and was a terrible driving buddy).  We got in around 1:00, and got up early the next morning so we could get on the road to Leamington for Brad & Jana’s wedding.  We managed to get organized and get out the door around 10:00, which worked out well for the long drive.  We got to Leamington around 1:00 in the afternoon, and we glad to see the hotel let us check in early.  We also got a chance to relax a little before heading out into the very warm day for the ceremony.

The wedding overall was a beautiful, love-filled day!  The ceremony was very special – the couple was married by one of Jana’s best friends from UW, which was really sweet.  Every little detail in the church was covered, and it was just beautiful.  After that, they had all of the guest hang out in little groups so we could chat and get a nice candid picture with the bride and groom.  This was fun because M and I fit into the “School and Toronto friends” group – and seeing as he knows Jana from school, and I know Brad from school, and we have intermixed friends, meeting up with everyone and meeting new people was a breeze!  None of the awkward weird wedding feeling was present.  Definitely good. 

The reception was wonderful – it was in a giant tent in the back yard of Jana’s parents.  There was tons of food – each being served from a themed station (ie. Country Menonite, Greek) and the appetizers were spring rolls and edamame because it was the first thing Brad and Jana made together in the kitchen.  (So cute!)  The tables were family style, the wine flowed at a good rate, and it was all about having a good time.  The kissing game was particularly inventive as you had a choice to do one of two things: 1) act out a kissing scene froma movie and watch the couple perform it or 2) make a charitable donation and pick a theme for the couple to act out during their kiss.  M and I donated to ALS research and got them to do “awkward 7th grade first kiss where you’re braces get stuck together”.  Hilarious!  🙂  Dinner wrapped up and we got to enjoy the musical stylings of Franklin’s Fault who had a reunion for one night only.  We danced away and kept it going for as long as we could before we needed to get to sleep!

The next morning we all met back at the tent for a brunch to help eat up all the leftovers!  Super smart idea as there was still tons of delicious food to eat.  M and I headed out right after eating, as it’s a long drive home – which I admit I was awake for most of – and we got back in Toronto with enough time to relax a little before I headed to church and M headed back to work. 

Monday, we barely had time to recover!  After work we had dinner, then M and I headed to the new Future Shop at Dundas Square to get him something he’s been eyeing for a while – a new flat screen TV.  After much debate (even a rebate), we settled on a new Sharp Aquos which got set up last night.  It’s way cool and it’s going to be even more awesome when we have time to sit down and watch it.  Last night we spend a good chunk of the evening cleaning/organizing and buying a new TV stand from Ikea.

Tonight – Dave Matthews Band at the Ampitheatre (interestingly enough with Brad and Jana and some others).  More news to come!

It’s good to have a “life” back!

Coming back to life!!!

I’m free!  I have finally finished all the work I started doing so long ago!  It’s all over!  And I’ve actually done pretty well for myself (A- all around!)  It’s finally starting to hit me that I have some of my freedom back, and yesterday morning I enjoyed my very first taste of it by sleeping in until 10:30.  Definitely worth it.

Other than the celebration, it’s been a pretty good weekend – I finished up my essay writing on Friday and then headed to a get togther with the QPT folks.  It was really good to catch up with people seeing as it was a shindig for all past and present alumni.  But I’ve got to say, seeing as I very rarely drink anymore, I’ve got a pretty low tolerance these days.  I was feeling pretty tipsy by the time I got home – thank goodness I had M to take care of me.  He says I apparently was awake one minute, and then asleep the next!  hehehe! 

Saturday was a good day too – M and I got up relatively early and headed to KW.  Our first stop was the Fairview Mall where we hooked M up with an awesome outfit for Brad and Jana’s wedding this weekend.  I managed to find another dress – RW & Co is my new favourite store for dresses ’cause they understand there are women out there who have big boobs and small waists like me!  And we also got a nice little care package for Dad.  We then met up with Mum, chatted for a bit, then headed to the hospital to check on Dad.  It was good to see him – he’s not looking too frail, but he’s not 100% great either.  I tried to keep him motivated to move and caught him up on my life.  I was also really glad he seemed to enjoy the snacks we brought, seeing as he hasn’t been eating all that much lately.  After out visit, Mum helped me edit my essays, and then we took her out for dinner!  It was good, but in the end it was a  bit of a long day – we didn’t get home until 10:30 and I was getting cranky from falling asleep in the car!  Oh well…at least I send off my final exam before bed!

Sunday was great – as I mentioned, I totally slept in until 10:30 – something I haven’t done in ages!  Then I got up, ate, and got ready to meet with the girls (minus Court) downtown.  (The girls = my best girlfriends from University).  We had lunch, got caught up on life and celebrated the fact that Nush is now a doctor and back in Canada after a long haul in Leichester.  After lunch, us girls did a little shopping, which was fun.  It took a bit, but Jen and I found some great new bikinis.  But I’ve got to say, looking for one that fits was a pain in the rear for me!  Enough said.  After that it was church, then home.

Oh!  I also had a chance to finally watch Sweeney Todd – I’ve had my friend Lucy’s copy for a long time now – and I really enjoyed it.  They didn’t do the greatest balance on vocals vs orchestra on the DVD, so it was sometimes really hard to hear what the singers were saying, but eventually we just added the subtitles so anything we couldn’t hear we could read.  I just have to say, I’m soooo very glad someone finally decided to tackle a really awesome Stephen Sondheim show and make it work really well.  Why?  Well, because Sondheim is probably one of the most talented musical writers of all time, and he’s often undervalued because he tends to do more technically hard music and different show topics.  If anything, people have to recognize his brilliant and clever lyrics – check out Into the Woods (written with James Lapine) if you don’t believe me!  Anyway – enough ranting – see the movie.

p.s. I’M FREE!!!!!

When it rains, it pours

Dad’s still in the hospital, and probably won’t get out for a while.  He was complaining of pain in his hip so on Friday night he underwent another X-ray and CAT scan.  We got the results on Saturday morning, and it seems worse than expected.  It seems that Dad has had an undiagnosed mild form of spina bifida since birth, a condition that has caused his joints to be slightly abnormal.  During the crash, Dad impacted his hip and now has a small fracture there.  As his joints aren’t normal, recovery from this injury is probably going to take much longer than his elbow, which is projected to take over a year.  Now it seems Dad is set to go into a rehabilitative care institution so they can help him get back the use of his elbow and his hip.

Oh dear.

Bikes and Dads don’t mix

Last night M and I went to check out the film screening of “The Door” and “A Boy and His Wolf” by my friend Karl Ritcher.  Lots of fun to check out, seeing as I helped in the art department on the second one.  (My first film credit!)

Alas, during this time, I missing some rather frantic calls from my mother.  (My phone was on vibrate, and I didn’t hear it).  As M and I were heading home I got another call.  It was Mum again.  When I called back, I found out that my father was in a biking accident yesterday.  We don’t know all the details because the hospital had a hard time tracking down Mum during the day so she got to the hospital just before 9 pm when Dad was heading into surgery!

The basic understanding we have is that he was biking on Cherry St around 2:30 yesterday afternoon, went around a corner, and the rest is a blur.  Luckily four teenagers saw the accident and called 911.  They took Dad to the hospital, and managed to get his bike home.  Dad’s apparently shattered his elbow and we’re still waiting on word of what exactly has been done.  He only got out of the O.R. at about 2:00 this morning!

Yikes!  I’m not sure of more details – I’m waiting for Mum to get to the hospital!  Poor Dad!

Winning over parents = good, stolen iPods = bad

This weekend I decided to take on another adventure. Yep, it was about meeting the parents. M’s parents, of course, seeing as I’ve met mine.

So after work on Friday, M and I left the city to head down to Lambton county – more specifically to the chemical valley, aka Sarnia. Even more specifically we went to Sombra. It’s a thriving community of maybe 200 people. Very pretty, but you’ll see in a minute why I mention these facts…

The drive was good – we made fairly good time once we got past the Friday commuter traffic. It was a nice drive, as M and I got to spend some quality time together. Before I knew it, it was 9 pm and we were pulling into his parents driveway. Then the meeting happened – both of his are really nice, and his puppy Winston is super cute. We had a good, though brief, visit before hitting the hay for the night.

The next morning, however, presented me with a different view of the tiny little Sombra. Yep – I awoke to M asking me one simple question “Did you take the iPods (meaning mine and his) out of the car?”. My response: “No”. Oh crap. Turns out both of them were gone, gone, gone. GAH! It seems the door might have been left open and someone got in and took them both.
The good news – we didn’t lose the cell phone, wallet or expensive sunglasses we also foolishly left in the car. But still – the iPods…

Later that day we tried to put it out our minds and focused on family time. I got to play hockey with M’s brother and nephews. It was a lot of fun, and lunch was great. Really, I just felt really welcome, and that meant a lot to me. It was a successful day. I think I’ll be welcomed back..

That evening we headed of to Wendy’s to join her Hawaiian party. It was good to have a chance to meet her friends, and to have Wends meet M. Wends ended up getting up some really strange and funny outfits for Value Village, and we all looked pretty silly. It was nice. It’s just too bad I couldn’t taste any of her Hypnotique breezers (stupid lent…)

Sunday was all about breakfast and then heading out, but not without raiding Wendy’s CD collection first. We made it home in under 3 hrs. Safe and sound. And iPodless.

Mum saves the day!

Yesterday, I was at work fretting because I had to fill out a government form. As per usual, I was asked to provide my address history for the last five years – a task that may be easy for some, but when you had three address in 2004 alone, it’s tricky. So there I was trying to get this done quickly and efficiently, but having the hardest time remember the numbers of houses I lived in in 2002! Ugh! I tried Mapquest, Canada Post, Google – combinations to help me remember! I just wanted it done.

Eventually, I gave into asking for help. I called home. I asked Dad if he had my mailing address for the house I subletted a room in the summer of 2004. Was it 121 King St W in Kingston? Nope! He couldn’t help. Then suddenly, through a stroke of genius, Dad to decided to check one last place: Mum’s handy household phonebook. Eureka! There they were – all my known address from 2000 to 2007 written down with phone numbers. It was such a relief. One hour of work terminated in 5 minutes!

Mum, you rock!

In the Kay-Dub

Earlier this week, I was in KW again for work. It was really great to see my entire team back together again – we all work in three different cities, so even if we talk every day, we rarely get that face to face fun. It was great. We chatted lots, and worked lots. And we also took the time to have a very trash talked filled game of pool. Ha! So fun! I’ll never forget Chugosh’s face when I landed a fluke fancy shot after missing every other ball!

The venture was also good because I got to stay with Mum and Dad for a few day – Mum gave me a great red/black lamp for my birthday – perfect for the living room. We also had a good friend of the family visiting from England, and I didn’t think I was going to get a chance to see her. Very cool.

The only downside? In Waterloo I swear all you do it sit and eat. I ate so much that I can’t help but think I’m glad I don’t have to live through what we’ve affectionately “Watermoo Days” that often.