I'm writing to you today because I'm here with Laura, watching her get her photo taken, and I'm reminded of all the time she used to spend reading my blog when she needed a break. Sorry I've been so absent.
The summer has been going swimmingly well. Actually, that is a great word, since swimming has been a very important part of my life in the last month. (hahaahaah...Laura just asked her photographer if she could do "this", which was her, hands on hips, jutting her bubbies out. "No. No," is all he could manage. That was rather comical)
Where did I leave off? I think I was at about day 3. Sigh. So much summering has happened since then ;)
We had a welcome home barbecue on the Friday I got home...that was swell (I assure you that pictures will follow. I have them all ready to go on my purple camera). It was such a relief if that makes sense to have everyone together again, eating, drinking...just being around. Laura and Jesse were up Algonquin-ing, but we had a fabulous time anyway. My father whisked me off to Barrie on Saturday for Leanne's bridal shower. Linda and Erin hosted the event on Sunday (her aunt and cousin) and it was just beautiful. When the guests were gone, we hit the pool fairly hard and frolicked around in the sun.
On Monday morning, my Mother and I had our first golfing day. It was a RIOT. We showed up at Rock Chapel near Burlington with Doug and her clubs, ready to go, EXCITED to go, and because we were so tardy, ended up paired with a gorgeous older gentleman from North Carolina named Robin. We were SUPER intimidated at first, since he actually had golf shoes and we figured he would be a good golfer (we were so right), and that he would get TOTALLY annoyed with our lack of skills. Luckily, even though at times we didn't even hit the ball (or hit it backwards in some cases), he was so understanding and gracious, that we had a great time with him. Sure, we shot over the 3-par standard, but who cares? We had a blast. Lunch followed in Oakville at this great place with a patio (after an impromptu visit to "the LuLu" as the Mother Hen likes to call it), and then we moved to Uplift. My mother has this great friend who makes bras from scratch. Mom's treating me to a very beautiful bra and boy was this woman good. Loved her! Spending the day with my mother was a delightful treat. Though she had to take time away from Marketing Mondays (she sounds like the Marilyn Dennis of therapy), she was so satisfied with the day as well, that we agreed to do it as much as we can this summer.
Sounds pretty good to me ;)
I can't remember now what I did that first week back. Saw some family, had some dinners, did some laundry...what else do you do when you're delightfully unemployed? Not much. Pooling, sunning, summering. Very satisfying.
Friday rolled around and brought us to Toronto. The girls came over for a great Korean-inspired dinner. Sure, there was some wine, there was some gossip, there was some adult conversation. I just love being around these women...I can't even tell you how much. Alicia had to work, but we had a good time anyway. Mark picked Leanne up at the end of the night and played a little Humdinger with us (or whatever that game is called). It was nice for us to all spend a little time together, chilling out, enjoying the night.
Shalaina and Jackie were so gracious on Saturday and picked me up for a night out in Burlington. After some serious yard work at Laura and Jesse's, I was amped to get all prettied up and have some "serious" conversation with my "mature" friends. Yeah right. I love that the older we get, the more open we get. There was NO seriousness at all that night at Pepperwood's on the waterfront...just laughs and honesty. I loves it. After a hilarious appearance from Jackie's MOTHER, the girls and I enjoyed some ice cream in the pool and had a three-to-a-bed sleepover. Sounds great.
Then Jackie surprised me, as she always does. She told me that she had bought a car for her daughter for commuting home on weekends from Laurier, but since she only had a G1 licence, she couldn't drive it. And God was it annoying to have the car in the garage. To quote her, "I can't even get my bike! in there!" I would be doing her a favour by taking the car off her hands for the duration of the summer. Um, pardon e moi? I was glad to help out, to say the very least. Hence the birth of the Purple Beast. Nice-uh.
Sunday was my grandfather's birthday (on July 11 he turned a whopping 84). We celebrated by having a natural foods barbecue at my dad's condo. My fam from Niagara came and we had a fabulous time. We took Mia into the pool for the last time (since Dad sold his condo and is moving into a new HOUSE in late August)...it was really nice. I think that was the last World Cup Game too, so when it rained, we were more than happy to huddle around the tv for some entertainment.
OH! And then there was the CAMP.
Every year, we go to Algonquin Park to Leanne's stepfather's cottage. It is PARADISE and this year was no exception. The weather was PERFECT, the company was phenomenal...it was just an amazing (almost) week. Food, sun, wine, conversation? Summering doesn't get better than that. Dan and his friends had done some renovations, so the views are unobstructed straight down to the lake and the private cabin (the Love Shack) was great for midday naps without the noise.
I also made an impromptu stop at Dundurn Park one night after yoga. What a gorgeous place Hamilton has there. I went nearly at dusk, spent an hour wandering the grounds, doing (man) pushups every here and there (yeah! The upper body strength is back! Oh...update. I am healed apparently. All the injury is now gone and I'm back to Pilates and Yoga and swimming everyday. Exercise is amazing. I feel like one hundred dollars now that the bod is back). Anyhoo, Dundurn got a bit sketchy at dusk...there are rumours that it's a pretty stank place for underground sexual deviance, so I got the heck out of dodge as soon as I saw the men gathering in larger numbers.
Leanne's bachelorette was the following weekend (last weekend). We surprised her at her place at around 7, had some snacks then some Thai, then we headed out to Ultra. If I could highly recommend a club enough, it would be this one. Though the atmosphere was a bit strange on a Saturday night (the environment was wrought with eastern European men throwing their money around), the host that sets up the bottle service was amazingly accomodating. It's hard to plan a party from Korea (it's hard to do anything in Korea), so the fact that this woman made my life easy was certainly a plus. Anyway, we had a really good time there...dancing, flirting, drinking, dancing, dancing...the cab ride home was entirely entertaining as well. The cabbie turned right on Keele at Bloor (which is a no-no), and we were pulled over by the police. Fast forward to more flirting and the cabbie getting no ticket. It was pretty funny.
Recovery followed on Sunday, as well as the trying on of the fabulous bridesmaid dresses for Leanne's wedding. They're just stunning, and I don't say that lightly. I'm thrilled about this dress.
More golf Monday. Though we golfed better this time around, we certainly didn't have as much help as we'd had with Robin. I think we got annoyed pretty quickly, but I must say, we're pretty good. Mom has had lessons, but I haven't and there were quite a few holes where we followed the best ball to a whopping 5 (on the same par-3). Yeah yeah, I have to practice. I do love getting out onto those sweltering fairways though. Who'da thunk it? Not such a stupid sport.
I went to Toronto on Wednesday to get my visa sorted. What an interesting process. The Youth Mobility visa can be issued to anyone who a) is Canadian, Japanese, or Australian, and b) is between the ages of 18 and 31, and c) has 1600 pounds in his or her bank account. Voila done. It's amazing. After that was done, I solidified what size I would need for my red Hunter Wellies, then waltzed around Toronto. What a great city. As the time wears on, I come to the realization that I will live there when I'm a Canadian resident once more. I popped under the Scotia Plaza roof when it started to rain, and realized that Kinga probably works there. In I went, talked sweetly to the receptionist, and sauntered upstairs to Where the Better Half Work. She and I used to work together at Scotiabank...it was a real pleasure to see her again. We went for some dinner, some wine (it might be the summer of wining, now that I look back), and some excellent conversation. We went back to her place (and the summer of going back to someone's place...I hope I'm not misleading you here) where her husband and us chuckled effortlessly about Korea. Steve is Chinese Canadian, so he could relate to some of the things I was saying, but it was pretty hilarious to speak the language and recall some of my more funny stories. All in all, it was a good night. What a pleasure to rekindle old relationships from the old days. I just love being home.
After a day hanging out at the pool with Shalaina and her kids, I headed back to Toronto to spend the night with Laura and Jesse before heading up to his parents' cottage in Port Colborne. Nice-uh. Bought a new camera today: trying out the $99 Fuji this Adventure around. Pics from the Purple Camera to follow (once I retrieve it from Mom's golf bag...sigh), then we'll start anew.
Oh, this is Girls' Weekend. And it's a looooong one. I'm grinning. It's going to be a good day. Enjoy your weekend.
