Friday, June 29, 2007

One More Thing

A BIG HUGE HAPPY RETIREMENT TO MY MOMMY!!

Today was her last day of work. Ever! NICE! You go girl. Hope you and dad live it up and enjoy your freedom! And give some serious thought to a winter vacation property in the Florida Keys. I have it on good authority that your kids will frequently visit you there! All the best mom! You deserve it.
Love ya.

Happy Birthday Canada!

This Canada Day long weekend we’re staying home to relax and be with the cat and just basically chill.right.out. As mentioned in the last post – our summers are very busy, so we’re going to just take it easy this weekend. We’ll go see the fireworks Sunday night somewhere – and we’re going out for a nice dinner on Saturday evening, and we may even catch a movie at some point, but I have to say – I’m looking forward to just being home.

So, we must remember to say a happy birthday to our lovely girl, Canada. She’s not looking too bad for 140. But she needs to care of herself, and hopefully we all can all do our part to help her out.

By the by - did you know that Canada Day used to be called Dominion Day? Totally true. It was July 1, 1867 when Canada became the first British colony to become a dominion – hence - Dominion Day. But alas, the name was changed to Canada Day in 1982 when the constitution was revised. Just a bit of trivia for you in case over the weekend you’re partying and your drunk Uncle Willie asks “hey…whaarshh canarrdaa day ferrr anywayshze?”


Have a good one!! Cheers.

Friday, June 22, 2007

I'm Pickin' Up Good Vibrations....

I love summer. Everything about it. I.just.love.it. The birds are singing; the grass is green; the flowers are bright; the weather is warm. It’s fabulous all-around. People just seem happier too. Waking up to bright sunny mornings, and staying out on a patio till late evening, having drinks with friends – what beats that!?

This weekend we are having a family reunion at my aunt & uncle's place. They live on the water with a large property and have a whole bunch of kayaks and canoes for us to use. They’ve even rented a pontoon boat for the weekend so we can tour around the area and enjoy the sunshine. I’m looking forward to seeing my cousins and sitting by the bonfire at night with the guitars going and singing. Yee Haw!

Summer is always a busy time for us. Both of our families have cottages and the invites for visits are sometimes hard to say no to, because we want to see everyone. Add in the summer parties and bbqs; a golf tournament here and there; dress-shopping!; our Calgary trip and some camping, and whammo – there just aren’t a lot of free weekends left!

But the way I look at it is that what summer is all about. Once the cooler weather comes, and the days get shorter, people like to (or tend to) stay indoors more. So I say live it up while you can. Sure – it may mean that we’re on the road a lot and away from our house a lot and maybe spending a bit more money than we would normally cause of the traveling – but summer goes so fast and soon enough its back to the dark mornings and cold weather. So enjoy yourselves people. You know how the song goes….we’re here for a good time-not a long time-so have a good time-the sun don’t shine every day!

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Clouds in my Head

This past week I have been a little ‘out of sorts’ and I was trying to figure out why. My life is great and I have so much to be thankful for. But I’ve been feeling a little stressed and overwhelmed. I think part of it is attributed to the fact that I’m a total “planner”. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll agree. So I think I’m trying to do too much, too soon and it’s clouding up my head. I want to enjoy these moments and not get stressed about things. So I need to take some deep breaths, relax and chill out.

There has been a lot going on over the past couple of weeks. On the wedding planning front – we’ve booked our venue for ceremony and reception. That took some time to sort out, and lots of trips to places and talking to people, but we got really lucky to find a perfect spot that both of us love. So, the date and venue are set! I asked 3 of my dearest friends to stand up for me, and my two beautiful nieces to be my flower girls. I also reserved the photographer that we wanted, and we will hopefully be meeting with someone in the next couple of weeks to officiate our ceremony. Once I have a DJ nailed down, I think I can take some time off from planning and relax over the summer (aside from a few trips to browse for dresses, but that’s more ‘fun’ than work).

Other things have been happening too. My parents moved out of their house, which they’ve been in for over 34 years, and will settle into their new place to start their new adventures. It’s bittersweet for all of us. My mom is retiring at the end of this month – good for you mom! Rich’s mom will do the same later this year, and she is also moving up to their cottage.

This weekend we will be up at my brother’s cottage to see the family. To celebrate Father’s Day and have some time in the sun. I’m really looking forward to that. But it’s also bittersweet. While we will be there to celebrate a special day, it will not be the same, as we found out this morning that my sister-in-law’s grandmother passed away. She was a lovely woman and was as much a part of our family, as she was of Cheryl’s. She will be missed by all, but I know that her memory will be kept alive by all of us who knew her.


So, I guess it’s natural that I would be feeling a little off, but it’s still important to put life into perspective and be thankful for all I have right now. I’m a very lucky girl.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Bust a Move

Before I got engaged, I said to myself “Self, when you get engaged, it’s going to be so much fun planning everything and picking things out and booking venues and ordering this and that and talking about it with friends and yadda yadda yadda”. Well – it is totally fun and I’m totally loving it, but because we want to get married in May or June of next year, the timeline is tight on booking a venue! I used to think I’d be down south, on a beach, not a care in the world, you know…a destination wedding – which I still love the idea of – but I love the idea more of being with all of the people who are important to me and who have watched me grow up and I want them to be included in my wedding day, especially my grammy-grams (grandmother) who’ll be 91 by the time we’re married and I don’t think she’d be able to make the trip south! The same goes for Rich and his family and friends, because this is his day too (or so I’m told). (kidding!!)

So – this past week, off we went to see 3 different venues. All had different characters, atmospheres, inclusions, exclusions, etc. One we love – but it’s on the higher end price-wise – the other we “like” – but the price is really good – and the third we just kind of said “no”, as it was quite small and would require some shuffling around – however it was mucho cheapo. But still….no. We are going to see another place on Friday, and another one Sunday, and then I think we’ll have some good ideas and comparisons and be ready to book something. There are tons of other places we could look at, but…like I said – not if we want to have a late spring wedding. There’s just not enough time as the dates are filling up.


By the way….when did DJ’s get so expensive!? I remember helping with functions where you’d hire a DJ for a couple hundred bucks. Now they’re anywhere from between $1000-$2000! Holy Cannoli. So – if anyone out there has some recommendations on a DJ – our ears are open. Otherwise I may have to get out my boombox and get down with Young MC’s “Bust a Move”….know what I’m sayin’ dawgs? I asked Rich if that could be our first dance song, but he said no. The noive!