Friday Funny

I'm in a rush so not much time,
Thought you'd enjoy this little rhyme.

I'm off to Newfoundland tomorrow,
I have a day off work to drown my sorrow.

Rogers Home Phone has launched, I'm going for free,
I'm headed to the launch party, to see Great Big Sea!

Happy Long Weekend!

Diamonds are Forever...

And a rare achivement these days. Last weekend Dave and I headed to Waterloo for a much anticipated 60th Anniversary party for my grandparents. Their anniversary is actually today but we thought celebrating the weekend before the long weekend was a better idea.

My parents and I have been planning this party since the beginning of the year, at first it was going to be at my parents house and in their backyard but after much discussion my grandpa decided it wanted something more formal...that's what it became very similar to a wedding reception.

The hall was at a senior's residence and it was beautiful. The food was amazing and the caterers and bartenders were very nice. Approximately 80 guests attended including family and friends from all over Canada (Nova Scotia, Thunder Bay, Yukon...). The party started at 5pm and didn't end until 9pm (later than we had expected given the majority of people were over 70). The first hour was meet and greet (of course the bar was open). My dad and I put together a DVD of pictures I had asked the guests to send me that played throughout the whole reception and music played from the 30's and 40's.

I had the honour of being the Emcee...my first time. I was a little nervous but all went well - I was a natural (as you could imagine!). I said my spiel before and after dinner...prepared a speech, passed the mic to my dad, then to my grandma and then to my grandpa. All speeches were short but sweet.

My grandparents are the most amazing people I have ever met - they have stuck together through thick and thin and are an inspiration to many. They have had a life any of us would be happy to lead and they are still going strong. They may be 87 and 92 but I hope to share many more milestones with them and all be around for all of the small things inbetween.

Cheers to love and laughter and happily ever after.

Friday Funny

I haven't been around much and am getting pretty lame with my Friday Funnies.

Some people obviously have too much time on their hands:

But what a great surprise for kids or husbands when they open up their lunch everyday!

Lions, Tigers and Bears...

Oh my!

Well there weren't lions or tigers but Hunter had a premonition that we would see large animals, probably a moose or bear...and that didn't happen either (thank goodness!).

Last weekend (we had Friday off) Dave and I headed to Algonquin with our friends Hunter and Jenny. It was my first time camping in the wilderness and I have to say that it was what I expected and I could do it again (but once or twice a year would be plenty).

We parked the car at about 12pm, picked up our canoes and loaded everything on - the sun was shining and it was getting warmer - a beautiful day ahead. We had to get through two portages and three lakes...by the time we got on the 2nd lake it started to rain, the sky turned grey and thunder and lightning could be seen/heard in the distance. We made it to our lake, picked a site (which was beautiful) and got the tarp up and a fire started. It rained most of the day until the late evening...sitting there damp and cold, able to set the tent up at about 11pm at night. What was I getting myself into?

Saturday was much nicer...still not t-shirt and short weather though - actually I had on four layers to be exact. We just hung around the site chatting and later Jenny and I went for a few hikes on the trails. We met Ranger Roy who the boys had a coffee with while he cleaned up our fire pot and moved our boom box to a fresh spot (thanks!). Hunter had all of the camping necessities and the little extras you sometimes don't think about!

Sunday was the best day of the weekend...of course! We had breakfast, packed everything up and headed back onto the open water for the trek home. As we were leaving there was a car in the ditch so the boys pulled him out with Hunter's truck and we continued on our merry way. A good deed is always a nice way to end a great weekend. But what's even better is getting stuck on the already cottage congested 400 because of a two lane closure - we came to a 45min complete stop but managed to make it home by 8:30pm.

Short and sweet - I could have talked about all of the laughs and details of what we did but you get the jist. We'll do it again next year and then I won't be the rookie!

Friday Funny

Waiting in Amish country last Friday I mentioned that a young man, probably early 20's, dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt tucked in stopped by to see if we were okay.

He came up to the car and Dave explained the tow truck was on the way and thanked him for stopping. After that the conversation went a little something like this:

Amish: "Where are you guys from?"
Dave: "Toronto"
Amish: "Oh yeah, I was there last night."
Dave: "Cool, partying or something?"
Amish: "No, singing."

Amish: "Yeah, we're Christian, you know spreading the good word."
Dave: "That's cool."

Dave: "Wow, awkward." said under his breath but definitely out loud.

The conversation went on a few minutes longer - the young lad was meeting up to play some baseball in one of the corn fields because "if you build it, they will come" or some shit like that.

It was a completely random conversation and if Dave blantantly hadn't said "thanks for stopping and we're okay" I think he might have wanted to hang out in the backseat, spreading the good ol' word a little more. Maybe not so funny, and I've probably offended some but what the hell...it was pretty damn funny to us.

Amen.

Clutch This...

It's been a busy and short week for me...we're heading up north again tomorrow so I wanted to ensure I got in one last blog before we left (or maybe two!).

This past weekend was supposed to be a restful and relaxing one at the cottage - pick up a few things we need for this weekend, have a visit with my parents and grandparents, watch some baseball, play some bocce and just take it all in. Well, we did all of the things above but also had a quite eventful and entertaining Friday night.

Our cottage is about 3 hours from Toronto and 1.5 hours from Waterloo (where both of my parents and grandparents live). A we were just on the outskirts of Waterloo heading toward Wallenstein; aka "Horse and buggy country" the clutch on Calvin died. Dave was pretty impressed that it had lasted us 136K as they usually go earlier than that. Well, needless to say we were stranded on the shoulder as horses passed by waiting for the tow truck to take us back to Waterloo. It would have been easy if any of my family weren't already at the cottage or if I had keys to one of their places but I didn't bring them with me... After an hour the car was towed to my old mechanic, my parents drove back the 1.5 hours to pick us up and we left our keys in the mail slot saying we would pick up the car Sunday night. Saturday afternoon rolls around without a call, so we call the mechanic and he says "on any given day, especially with this type of car I could find a clutch but nowhere in KW has one right now..." So needless to say we needed to get back to Toronto for Monday, neither of us could take the day off and stick around.

Calvin wasn't ready until Tuesday afternoon so my parents drove him back home and picked up their own. Okay, so this isn't such an exciting story but there were a few highlights:

1) Two young guys stopped by at different times to see if we were okay. The second came right up to the car and talked to us for several minutes...a very awkward conversation...hmm, maybe decent for my Friday funny.
2) Why would it take so long to get a clutch? 2002 was the first year they used a new clutch in Cavaliers...I guess they are a hot commodity!
3) It's fun trying to figure out how you will get where you need to be when you are three hours away in a town that doesn't really have too much to offer and family who offer ideas before thinking them through.
4) Eventhough we knew the car was in the garage we stopped by on our way home Sunday night. Dave had his tools in the trunk and I had my baseball stuff. A cleaner was inside so we tapped on the window and asked if he could grab our stuff...of course that is probably completely against the rules and he was hesitant but he took our keys and grabbed what we needed. You gotta love a man that will bend the rules to help out those in need.

$1,800 dollars and a slightly rabbit hopping clutch later all is well again and Calvin is home.

Friday Funny

I was looking for some pictures on my Uncle's website that I could use for a slideeshow I'm making for an upcoming party and came across this dandy. It's from their camping trip in Cape Cod this past weekend...

How can something so beautiful be so phallic?

5th Annual Cottage Party

After taking the Chi-Cheemaun to Tobermory we were on the last stretch to our final destination...Kincardine. This is the 5th year we have invited friends up to our cottage for a weekend of relaxing, drinking, eating and games...some more than others and I'm not exactly sure if anyone is relaxed by the time Monday rolls around.

This year we had some early arrivers Thursday morning and in total had about 20 people come and go over the course of the weekend. There were many bocce ball championships and dips in the lake - it was warm until Sunday but even then some of us mustered up the courage. The weather was beautiful the whole time, not one drop of rain but we did have a fire ban so no bonfires for us (a litle disappointing considering I can't even recall ever having a ban before and we are right on the beach next to the water). Ah well, we survived.

With no fires during the evening the drinking games became the main past-time - from 3-Man to 3-Man H to H to H and drinking dominos to pussy shot bocce there was a game for everyone. Honorable mention goes to the Pearl Jam concert live on the deck and Catch Phrase which helped keep the designated drivers entertained too. 10 cases of beer and umpteen bottles of alcohol later, Monday arrived too quickly and another weekend had come and gone.

As usual, it was another one for the books. I'm already looking forward to next year and what's in store...

Road Trip 2007

We're back from the great north...okay, not really the great north but we are back from our Road Trip 2007.

If it wasn't for a 2km stretch worth a 1.5hr stretch in the Soo we would have made it to T-Bay in record time. We got to Dave's parents around 10pm and had a quick visit and enjoyed Taco Time (Dave's favourite and a must have everytime we go) before calling it quits after a long day on the road...about 15 hours to be exact. Friday morning we ran a few errands and dropped by to visit our favourite Persian Man. For all those from the north or that have known the B's a while - it's a Thunder Bay delight and I never pass up the opportunity to enjoy a few tasty morsels of fresh, soft donut, covered with mouth-watering strawberry creamy goodness on top.

Friday afternoon the B's picked up B-Rock and we were on our way to camp...1.5 hours north of T-Bay. The weather was hot and humid which is surprising for that area. We didn't get one drop of rain, it was hot in the shade and the lake felt like you were swimming in a bathtub. We spent a few nights fishing...I caught the two biggest fish =) and the rest of the time eating, drinking, swimming and playing cards and Yahtzee. All in all a really great time.

Wednesday morning we were up at dawn for the long trek back to my cottage. We left at 7am to ensure we caught the 10pm Chi-Cheemaun from Manitoulin to Tobermory. We got to the ferry at 8pm, had a bite to eat and a relaxing two hour ride, arriving at the cottage just before 2am. It took 19 hours of travel time but we survived.

Did I mention that Dave and I had to not only put up with B-Rock all week but his flatulence did prevail every day of our holiday?!!