Way back I wrote this.......dougoros.livejournal.com/27652.html and yesterday I heard on the news that Khadr is being transferred from G Bay
to the States for trial. GOOD....and when he gets out of jail, deport the little bastard to Pakistan...along with his whacked out mother and sisters.
Nuf said

....usually happen. Had a great dream last night.Involved travel,being on a ship and what looked like Atlantis? in the Bahamas but I was talking about St Pete's? The ship part was a day trip of some sort...I'm not a fan of cruises. This is good because for most of my adult life I've had a bad case of deja vu.I live my dreams....even the foreboding feeling ones...which hasn't happened in YEARS.
This is why I truly believe that some people really are psychic and can "read" people.I've been to a few...there's a whole town full in central Florida that I get a kick out of visiting....Cassadega. The woman that really impressed me on my first visit years ago tho seemed a little off the last time I was there.Gotta keep looking I guess.
Summer has ended thankfully/regretfully.It was crazy busy for the most part but the weather sucked.Luckily one of the dry weeks we had was when we had a cousin and her 8 yr old son visiting for a week....
The pool got closed yesterday during 2 days of really strong winds and rain.It was a challenge making sure it was clean when they closed it.I had JUST finished vacuuming it when they arrived ,thank Gawd.We're building a proper counter and shelves in the garage this week before we start packing the patio furniture away.Have the faucet sets I bought last Oct. to install yet as well...hopefully this coming weekend so they're done when we have guests for Thanksgiving the following weekend.We move to Toronto for the winter in 31 days....sigh...and 3 of the weekends have some sort of event or party going on....time is limited.Thanksgiving weekend is gonna be hectic....dinner with family on the Saturday in Port Dover then the full turkey shebang here with friends on the sunday...and I'm sure they'll be spending the night.
So here's something I haven't had to say much.....I'm off to work....

...on a mini holiday.
We got back from Manitoba monday night.My first west jet experience was great. We had been told that the seats were crammed together but I didn't notice any difference from Southwest, my american airline of choice.They even had tv's in the head rests which made the flights fly by so to speak.We had a nice/short overnight visit with my friend Toni and her husband then friday morning we rescued the last of Rich's books(5 more boxes) and shipped them on the bus. We also took some time to wander around the Forks downtown and had lunch. The Forks, where the Red and Assiniboine rivers meet, has been turned into a trendy urban hang out spot....it was much different when I was living there. By 1pm we were headed to Lac du Bonnet , Rich's hometown and his parents farm.Lac du Bonnet, a place I never visited during my 5 years in Winnipeg, is an outdoor playground year round. The Winnipeg river widens into a lake there and the area is very popular with outdoorsmen for hunting,snowmobiling,atv'ing and boating. It's a beautiful spot.
We arrived at the farm, 150+ acres of forest,huge mounds of the Canadian shield and horse pastures early in the afternoon and got to visit with Rich's dad for a while and Rich gave me a tour of the place before his mom got home from Winnipeg .3 dogs,a really big cat and 3 or 4 horses/ponies(we only found 2 the other/s were hiding from the bugs. His dad ...in spite of a not so great start years ago...is a really good cook.We had beef stew and biscuits followed by his world famous butter tarts. This guy has perfected pastry for pies and tarts.Great meal, fun conversation during which his dad confirmed the funny/horror stories about his earliest attempts in the kitchen.We returned to our motel early enough for a hot tub and swim.
Saturday we visited Old Pinawa, an abandoned hydro dam where Rich and his siblings spent their summer days body surfing the falls and swimming in the river.It's now a beautiful provincial park but was at one time the party spot for bikers.We returned to the farm where Rich's older brother Mike and his 2 little girls were by then. We again had an amazing meal I haven't enjoyed for a lot of years, perogies with kielbasa.....sigh. After lunch I hung out with my father in law and learned how to use a real dutch oven ( briquettes on top and underneath). His dad did a roast in it which he sliced up in bbq sauce for bbq beef on a bun for dinner.By late afternoon his sister Chantel and 2 of her children had also arrived. That leaves one brother I have yet to meet, Kevin who is living up north in Grand Rapids on the band land, he works for Manitoba Hydro.
Dinner again was mouthwatering goodness followed by birthday cake to celebrate Rich's dad's birthday. We had a camp fire out back after... it was a great ending to a very sweet day.
Sunday morning we headed back to Winterpeg and spent the afternoon hanging out by Toni's sister's pool having snacks and cocktails.Dinner was meant to be a trip down memory lane for me with Rich's sister, brother and their families, at the place I first discovered the delight of souvlaki.Apparently , you can never go back. The evening started out weird when Toni ...who had had a few margaritas...asked me to sit in the back of the car with her.All the way to the restaurant I had a straight married woman hugging me, massaging my neck and looking for an occasional kiss...oy vay. Dinner was worse....everybody that had pizza or pasta loved their meal.For me, not only did they no longer do pork or lamb souvlaki but the chicken was bland, the rice was dry and plain and the potatoes had some sort of weird white sauce....sheesh.Santa Lucia's was the souvlaki I compared all others to for over 30 years.At least 3 times a month we would go there after work on a friday night for dinner......what a let down.
After dinner we dropped Toni off at home, her husband had stayed behind to work...he always gives Toni a night out with me alone when I visit....something that I will make sure never happens again. Rich and I joined his family at his sister's new house for an hour or so then went back to Toni's...who thankfully was in bed.
It was a quick trip but we got to spend some time with his family,his cousin and her son, who had spent a week here 2 weeks ago also joined us for dinner Sunday...and Rich gave me the tour of his childhood.Other than being a little isolated...the farm is a few kilometers out of town...it would have been an amazing place for a kid...forests,"mountains",an exciting natural water park, horses and pets....who the heck would have needed tv and with a large family, having your friends a LONG walk or bike ride away wouldn't have been a problem.We're already talking about our next visit........

Teddy died. I've annoyed a friend or two by expressing my view that karma may have played a role in his illness.I don't personally wish suffering on anyone....well not anyone that has been alive most of my life.....I kinda like to think Hitler, for instance, is squirming in a fire somewhere tho.I leave retribution up to the Gawds.
I can't help thinking tho that it's unfortunate the Kopechne's died before Teddy did. Victims getting to witness Karma just seems right....even tho I agree that he spent his career post 1969 doing good, I can't help thinking it was driven by fear for his soul...he was Catholic after all.
I'm sorry for his familie's...and the US Senate's loss, and I'm sure he's resting peacefully and will continue on his journey unscathed by his past....a lifetime of penance is a good thing to ensure that....but I'm also appreciative of Karma.

...'cause I'm avoiding....avoiding putting together a grocery list for the party tomorrow, avoiding cleaning the house and avoiding the whole list of crap I have to do today.
The visit by Rich's cousin and her 8 yr old son is going really well.She's a doll...8 yr olds are difficult sometimes but I just keep reminding myself that he IS an 8 yr old.Apparently being called a whiny bitch was a new experience for him! Yesterday was marineland day, he hadn't slept much because he was psyched AND wouldn't eat any breakfast....by the time we stopped for lunch I was ready to string him up.....and sure enough, after eating he was back to his jolly self.So the day was a success...hot tho...thank Gawd for the splash show by the killer whale.We got home and all immediately dove in the pool and got some take out.
Wednesday we went to a local private zoo...Killman zoo....what a great spot....very close to all the animals...today they're at the lake with my sister and one of her neighbour's kids....he and Jordan hit it off instantly and started playing Wii.
(OMG summer weather has been here 2 days and the pool place JUST called to book a closing date for our pool)
So today is "free" day for me...cleaning,laundry,grocery shopping, bit of food prep. We are expecting 25 or so at some point tomorrow for a pool party/bbq to mourn the passing of my 48th year.This one is a bit smaller than usual...I'm guess I'm getting too old and tired for big bbq's. The wedding weekend was pretty much enough for me...for the year.This one is small enough to allow me to actually visit/party with people ..and we're having chicken of some sort and baked potatoes etc for dinner so no stressful labour intensive prep work either....they can go to KFC if they want potatoe salad LOL.
Sunday we're going to the African Lion Safari, that should be fun, and monday I'm taking them to Toronto for some urban sightseeing and an afternoon at Ontario Place.
And now, the washer is singing it's" your clothes are clean, come rescue them" tune ....so I'm off.

....I smoked a few cigarettes yesterday.I "officially" quit smoking around 8 am yesterday after I ran out of cigarettes.I made it through the day without offing myself by (UGH) smoking 2 butts left in the ashtray....I know, I know,....and Rich gave me a cigarette before bedtime.For someone who smokes between 1 and 3 packs a day, this was pretty good, but I also understand why people cut themselves.SHEESH.
I had my first cigarette somewhere around my 7th birthday. I know it was near my birthday cause it was midsummer....so I've smoked off and on for 41 years.I'm promising myself that by Saturday, my 48th birthday, I will be a non smoker.Rich has a pack...and truth be told I have one stashed as well,hehehehe, that I will use sparingly all week. Rich doesn't know about my pack btw and I'd prefer to keep it that way.There are days, mostly during snowstorms and clean up, that I smoke 3 or more packs a day. Even now, when I'm not very busy I smoke more than a pack a day....a lot of that tho burns away while I'm surfing the net.
A big challenge is also going to be my weight. Now that life has slowed to a reasonable pace and my back is almost back to normal, I have to increase daily activity and start back to the gym in order to start losing some of the accumulated fat I've added since the big back trouble 2 years ago...no more excuses....I don't like being a 3 bedroom bungalow.
Life has slowed to a normal pace somewhat lately. We have a cousin of Rich's and her son arriving tuesday night for a week and are having a bunch saturday for a bbq. Having Anetta and Jordan for the week will help and hinder the gym plan. I won't get to the gym much while they're here but a couple days of tramping around some of the sights should make up for that, just have to be careful with junk food at theme parks.The plan includes a day in Niagara and Marineland, a day at African Lion Safari and a day in Toronto and Ontario Place.....as well as a yard full on Saturday lookin to be fed and watered.I'm sure it will be a blast.
I'm going to force myself to "fess up" on here as often as I can on my progress.....wish me luck.

...before the country gets too comfortable with the Alberta nazi and his ilk running the country.
Their latest move was to deny funding to Divercite, the pride festival in Montreal....that draws in many thousands of visitors and their dollars to the city. We've allowed the small minded church going conservatives of Alberta to take over the running of our country and it's time we woke up and did something about it. The minister that had the audacity to fund pride Toronto was demoted for it.Welcome to Texas......
The government will be brought down....sooner rather than later hopefully....before they can do more harm. Large "C" conservatism goes against everything I am proud of in this country.....Mulroney and his gang of red tories are lookin pretty good right now.It's time we started screaming at the top of our lungs that we won't stand for it anymore. It's time to start canvassing every blue riding in Ontario to convince people that their values aren't represented by the Alberta nazis.And since it seems we're stuck with the Bloq for the foreseeable future, it's time to stop splitting the socially conscious vote and put the boots to the NDP....and I know I'm gonna take some crap over that. The truth is, Layton doesn't have a chance of ever putting together a majority, the Liberals have a much better chance of becoming the governing party....and it seems it will only happen if there's a red tide from Ontario to counter the blue wave from Alberta and the Bloq from Quebec.
Regardless who represents you in Parliament, take a minute today and write/email/call them to let them know that cutting off the funding of huge, popular rainbow events will not be tolerated.
On a happier note...
The new washer and dryer will be here anytime now, thank Gawd.....every spare blanket/sheet/pillow case we own...as well as all the pool towels and most of our washroom towels...are in a pile in the laundry room waiting to be washed.2 of Rich's brothers, their wives ..who are sisters as well as their sister, parents, grandmother AND 8 kids spent saturday night here.
it was a great time, as well as hectic,nervewracking and stressful. Since the visit was gonna be short and sweet, I stupidly kept Luke here.....never again.He loves kids and HAS to be splashed CONSTANTLY when they are in the pool....3 hours of steady barking can get to a person after a while.We had a great bbq'd meal saturday night...and once the kids were asleep we had a couple gallons out of the margarator.Sunday morning after french toast,waffles, bacon and suasages, they left for Niagara Falls to spend a few days there....and we vegged for the rest of the day....

...one bloody day before 11 guests arrive for a night or two.Bedding,towels both bath and pool....plus a husband who's a clothes horse.....damn.Luckily we have a TON of home depot gift cards we received as wedding gifts...the downside is the last time I bought an appliance at home depot the delivery date was a week later.
Life has given us a week of "slow" for a change...chance to recharge a bit before this busy weekend.
Last weekend we spent the entire weekend together....alone....FINALLY....didn't do much other than clean the pool and hang out. We caught Ice Age 3? and Wolverine at the drive in...that was fun..dinner was greasy drive in food...Rich had never been to one?? While there aren't many left, the one near us has 3 screens and was packed.....must be a steel town redneck thing...and I'm thankful for it...it's kinda nice to be all comfy in the car AND be able to have a smoke.It's been so busy the past couple of months I forgot just how much I enjoy our time together....
This weekend will be nuts.....there's actually 16 coming.....5 are stayin in a hotel close by....9 are kids ranging in age from 10 months to 15 years....it'll be a challenge.Luke is being banished to the trailer with the dogsitter for the weekend. He loves kids but gets too excited around the pool...don't need him knocking a toddler into the deep end....or falling in himself Next weekend we are meeting a bud from Virginia at the lake for dinner on friday then are probably in Toronto Saturday for a birthday dinner.The following weekend is a long one...gawd bless Canada.....it's the holiday for nothing....I think we're still totally free that weekend, tho may have friends over for part of it if the weather ever turns summery....fingers crossed.

...well it was going to be but I changed my mind.I've been conflicted about an issue involving etiquette for a couple of weeks.After getting opinions from a few friends tho, I've decided that while I certainly won't take the high road completely....I'm goin to forget about it...nuf said.
This past weekend, tho not as slow and quiet as we would have wished/ desperately need, was really nice. We were in Toronto most of Saturday, Rich had a free massage won in a pride raffle while I picked up and got rid of some garbage for our lady friends.The city is on strike and is starting to stink a bit.....
That afternoon we grabbed a bite on a patio near the home of friends where we would be going to a surprise birthday party later.Other friends joined us for a beer and gabfest.The party was great, lots of people....the old man guest of honour had a good time.I had to rescue the grill tho, the first batch of burgs and dogs resembled something dug out of the ground in Pennsylvania....
The party was byob...and because of the aforementioned etiquette issue I noticed something that ordinarily wouldn't have meant anything.Let's face it, when a party is for over 20 and the host provides a whole pile of food as well as mixers/soft drinks for us old folks, what kind of jerk brings a six pack then proceeds to drink themselves silly enjoying other people's booze? I must be getting old and cranky. In the past, most of our parties have been gratis....or if you insist on bringing beer or liquor, the rule is if you wanna drink 10....bring 6...we hate having a fridge full of leftover beer...like now....the remnants from the bar at the wedding have us well stocked.This is different when we are hosting for a weekend of course...then ya bring ur own booze!This couple tho seemed to have no problem partying at other's expense and it annoyed me.If they had been helping themselves to booze I had brought they would have lost a hand.....maybe being sober at these things isn't wise for me.
We had to leave earlier than we would have liked to. We had to drop a card off at another birthday party then meet with the photographer to go over the wedding book and pick up the pics to go with the thank you cards.The photographer is an artist, in spite of not using all the pics we had chosen...and using some we hadn't....he's creating a beautiful record of the happiest day of my life.We were both in awe and whenever he asked our opinion on something we merely said "whatever you think".His name is Rudo...his partner Kate is working in Kenya for the summer on an internship photographing wildlife.We found them thru a friend's list on facebook of all places.I liked them right off because rather than the usual wedding package, where you pay for a certain number of images/sizes, they charge by the hour with 3 or 5 hour blocks of time that are discounted.Regardless of what you choose to do with the pics, they supply 100 4x6 prints and a high res disc of all the shots taken.We opted for smaller pics for the thank you cards rather than the 4x6 prints and chose a leather bound photo book instead of an album.We're also having a few enlarged for framing.The photo book will have heavy pages filled with shots from our wedding printed on them...it's going to be amazing...some pages have black or white as a background and merely feature a selection of photos while on others he has used one photo as the background and others smaller featured on the page.I was speechless.We can't wait to get it.
I've been sick for a week so thankfully sunday was spent doing nothing at all...Rich cleaned the pool while I picked up chlorine and a few groceries.The rest of the day was spent napping or flaked on the sofa watching the tube....it was heaven.I have to be in town for work a couple days this week...nothing strenuous thank gawd....couple of claims to work on.Hopefully the office will continue to forget about me for a while yet.
This coming weekend, so far anyway, is totally event free....we might take in a movie or something but that should be it.Our first....and probably only....weekend alone together for the summer since the wedding.....and I'm psyched about it!

....for a couple of weeks anyway.
Once the last of the inlaws left, we had one whole day before the arrival of a friend from Chicago for Pride weekend. Pride was great, leaning towards quiet actually.
We went to a house party in Toronto friday night, saw a bunch of friends, made some new ones ...but drove home to Hamilton after.Saturday I stopped by the home of friends who had recently had a family tragedy. The city of Toronto people are on strike so I had told them I would pass by and pick up their garbage....we have a bin at the camp that is serviced by a private company.I stayed for a couple of wobbly pops and a good long talk....it was the first time I had seen the lady who's family suffered the loss...her wonderful partner came home early and attended the wedding....I'm not really good with loss and grieving but I'm great at the after stuff....I've got big shoulders.
Rich and Larry, our guest, went to the cn tower and then we went to Sidhartha for some Indian food. It was a culinary adventure for Larry visiting Toronto, friday night he has his first ever shwarma and saturday his first ever Indian buffet....
After dinner we walked the length of Church st that was closed for the festival checking out the booths and stuff....stopped in at another house party then headed over to visit Tom and Emi at the gelato shop...another first for Larry although he said he had heard of Italian Ice before....not sure if it's the same as gelato tho.
Later that night we hit the beef ball....it was a great time...big crowd...great dj.
Sunday was rainy, we skipped the parade(thank gawd) and went to 2 more house parties.....Rich skipped the first so he could go shopping for books.We ended the day walking the street once more before heading to a Thai restaurant for dinner and eventually home to Hamilton.A nice way to celebrate pride...nothing crazy...just good fun with friends....and then I got sick...sheesh.
Yesterday was Canada Day. We had a very small bbq with some friends...9 in fact. I am feeling under the weather...we're both still spent from the craziness of the wedding/wedding weekend/family and guests so the thought of having a yard/pool full of people yesterday wasn't very appealing.2 people actually contacted me and asked if I was having a bbq and rather than lie I just said I wasn't feeling up to a BIG bbq party....not really a lie.Only now I feel a little guilty.Judging by facebook the day wasn't the greatest for some so I'm hoping no one learns of the small get together and feels left out...even for the small group we had I was up at 7 am cooking the stuff for potato salad and making burgers.....
The bbq was great....had some rain but managed to spend most of our time outside....a few had a swim....and they all left by 8:30?......a brilliant end to the day...LOL.
This coming weekend isn't going to be the veg out time we're hoping for.....2 friends have birthdays so we'll be spending a chunk of the weekend in Toronto....but we'll damn well be home late saturday night so we can have sunday to recharge...and we're not accepting any invitations in Toronto between now and labour day!
In a good news / bad news sort of way...we found out that 14 more of Rich's family will be arriving mid July....7 adults and 7 kids.....9 mos. and up......one brother, sister in law and their 4 children will be staying with us.....the other 8 will be in a motel nearby....
I'm ecstatic that Rich is getting to spend time with a bunch of his family after a 3 1/2 year "lull"....the thought of being mama bear to another huge group of guests tho is scary right now...we have a 5 bedroom house and a pool...it's natural that we have guests....and I love hosting....I just need some rest....and alone time with my husband.During the winter we are together 24/7 for the most part.....during the summer I miss that...evenings are short cause Rich's work day starts early. The weekend before his brothers and families arrive is going to be a totally US time weekend.....2 whole days on the love seat ...him gaming....me absorbing cnn or AnE......heaven.......

...and inlaws....and a whole whack of em came for our wedding.
Most of the logistical nightmare stuff went pretty smoothly this past weekend.Rich's brother, Mike, from Winnipeg, arrived Thursday afternoon while Rich was in Toronto making a pick up.He seemed a little uncomfortable for the first 10 minutes but settled in quite quickly. He stayed with us until last night and was a huge help.He had rented a 6 passenger vehicle to help shuttle the "elders in training" around.He's very active in the first nations community and should become a shining star one day, his ideas and ambition could very well be the start of the end of any squabbling between the various nations and the federal government.
Friday's one little hitch was Rich didn't get back in time to meet the rest of his family at the airport...so I went....dreading it.One big concern was his mom who is a very devout pentacostal Christian....she started out the weekend by being very gracious...and ended it by being very warm and friendly....way more than I had hoped for. My inner "radar" only picked up warm and loving from the entire family.Their community work and generosity...ESPECIALLY his mom who's entire life has been spent helping people, makes me feel somewhat inadequate.In total, his parents,a brother, a sister along with her "husband",4 aunts,one "uncle" 3 cousins and a date joined us.I'd love to go on a bit about the date but I'm linking this to facebook...we'll leave it at she was very pretty....but...
The "aunties" were a blast, although I fear I will be seeing more than one of them on Intervention...they are responsible for more than a few casinos being profitable....LOL LOL
My other big concern had been his sister who had had a misunderstanding with me via email....she turned out to be a beautiful little "elf" of a lady with an infectious grin...the late nights after the "elders in training" had returned to hotel were special and it was due in large part to Angie and Ryan sticking around.
His cousin Annetta too was wonderful....but I knew that would be the case before she arrived...and her mom was the artist that made the blanket that is in one of the pics I'm going to try and put up here.She is the kind of person that instantly becomes family when you meet her...I wanted to hug her all the time....
The wedding itself wasn't the let down I had prepped for.Ya know how you get all pumped up about Christmas for example...all the hub bub leading up to it ...and then it arrives...you have dinner and it's done? Not this time.From start to finish it was magical.The officiant might have been a tad long winded but we all had a chuckle when I pointed it out and sighed in exasperation....he WAS working for us after all...
By far tho the highlight was the star blanket.It's a Cree tradition and the only thing that kept me from bawling like a chick was the tack in my pocket that I firmly planted in my thigh.
Mike took the microphone and explained the tradition while Angie and Annetta wrapped us in it....well as much as they could anyway.I'm told there were quite a few teary eyes in the crowd.
In spite of being told it's actually supposed to be used on the bed.....my first choice is to have it framed under glass to keep as a piece of art....maybe we'll use it one night....
After the reception the siblings and cousins again joined us at home for some beers, herbal relief and laughs....til about 5 am...it kinda made the brunch I started making at 7am a tad lighter than planned...the menu was supposed to be french toast,waffles,eggs of some sort bacn sausage and biscuits....it became french toast, biscuits, bacon and sausage....and I didn't really care....LOL LOL LOL. Afterwards most of the family went to Niagara so Angie could see the falls and the aunties could "see" the casinoS....I got to hang out with my American friends...tidy up a bit....just loll around for the most part.
Angie and Ryan had to leave sunday night, the rest of Rich's family,other than Mike, left monday. All of his family that I have met are beautiful,bright,socially aware and generous people...I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised tho.I really hope there's return visits...maybe in smaller numbers tho so we can host them in our home properly....and I can get my ass kicked by Annetta's 8 year old monolith of a son.

The final agonizing week has finally arrived.Thankfully, there is a lot of "stuff" I can actually DO every day this week ........my stress level went from 100 to 25 overnight...and I slept.
We're still waiting for one cousin to firm up his travel plans but it sounds like he will be arriving at the train station in Toronto on Friday at 5pm from where he will go to the airport to hook up with his family and girlfriend. He'll have to make do with a ride from a coworker to the airport because there's no hope in hell of me being in Toronto on a friday afternoon at the height of rush hour....even if I wasn't already going to be entertaining guests at home and prepping a rib bbq for 25 people.
Today I will be tidying up the house and cleaning the extra patio furniture. We're having my old friend who's standing up with me, and his wife and daughter, along with our good friends Nick and Mason, who will be emcee'ing the reception, tomorrow for a planning session/bbq/birthday party. Dinner will be early because Bert has to start work at an ungodly hour on monday. This will give me time after to make sure the house is clean and Monday I can spend the day at the trailer getting it cleaned for the weekend when 2 friends from Montreal will be staying there. I'm also gonna pick up some food and beverages for them and will get all the punch supplies for the pre-boarding pail-o-punch we're having served before people leave for the wedding.
Tuesday morning I'll clean the pool and patio before heading back to Toronto for a haircut and lunch. I'll take advantage of a slow afternoon to pick up the liquor and a couple other odds and ends we need.
Wednesday will be house cleaning and grocery shopping, our first friend arrives thursday at noon in Toronto so I'll be picking him, the truffles and our rings from the engraver up Thursday, Rich will be in Toronto late afternoon to pick up his friend and his brother will be arriving at some point that day as well.
Thursday night we're bbq'ing steaks and relaxing because it starts to get insane at dawn friday when I head to Toronto to pick up the cake, grab the beer on my way back and drop it all off at the hall.Rich is picking up our tuxes and natural food shopping with his friend who is on a very limited diet and will meet me at the hall to load the beer into the cooler.Then we'll pick up the van we rented for the weekend.
The rest of friday for me is all about a rib bbq for 25 friends and family....who will be arriving from noon to 9pm...and all will need to be fed....while they're wrapping champagne flutes and truffles for the parting gifts......Rich has pick ups at the Toronto airport at 3:30 and the Hamilton airport at 6.....poor Rich...
That's my week....no time for stressing waiting for email replies about travel times...no time for over thinking ANYTHING....just enough time to actually DO STUFF.....wish me luck and next time I blather on here there'll be another piece of 18k bling on my finger....

I did it....I made an 18k white gold wedding band...almost all by myself yesterday.Sarah, the lady who owns Devil's Workshop on Queen St w was a real sweetheart.She recognized that I was a bit lacking in the artistic department ...mostly because I ranted about it ALL day...and was a huge help.Richard of course was perfect at it.....bitch....
I love passing on business names that I've had a good experience with....this is one of the best examples of this.The Devil's Workshop offers all kinds of different jewelery making classes and has a small store front where they sell their stuff....the fortune cookie charm n chain is very cool.
We did "everything". When we got there, we were given little bars of gold, they were the thickness we had pre ordered and were cut close to the proper length.Sarah showed us how to calculate the length we needed and sand the ends to get it ready for bending.The bending was pretty easy, Sarah was very helpful at getting it PERFECT....my biggest trouble was soldering the joint.My eyes aren't great and I didn't have my reading glasses. The filing and sanding after the joint was done was a bit tedious...I swear I was done long before Sarah gave it the seal of approval. The next step,after it soaked for half an hour in acid and some other stuff, polishing , was amazing....right before my eyes it turned into a beautiful white gold ring....I was beginning to think we'd been sold tin....or worse....LOL.
The rings turned out wonderfully....we got to have lunch at Fresh again ....YUMMMM...and we got to spend a few minutes at the gelato shop....what a SWEEEEET day.
I gotta admit, when Rich bought the ring making thing for our anniversary...I was "skeptical"...I really am useless at tricky little things....like tying my shoes. When it comes to personal/emotional depth....I'm a puddle...Rich is the Atlantic.We had once looked at bands that had a celtic design on them...I thought that was what he wanted...THAT would have been a disaster.The wedding band class tho is strictly for plain bands.....and they're PERFECT....hand crafted and polished by the love of my life.
I'm getting Rich;s ring engraved with "AMAS VERITAS"... this is sort of the theme of our day.Anyone familiar with Practical Magic will recognize the song and term.....and Rich is Pagan/Wiccan.And it's a waltz......
We're in the homestretch of the countdown now...13 days to go.I'm also a little less wound up...tho sleeping seems to be a challenge....my eyes open and the wheels start turning...hence the time of this post.There are some nagging little issues to get over....the layout of the hall for example....the dance floor will split the dining area into 2...don't want anyone thinking they've been shoved aside...or to the back somehow.The hall will hold 40 or so more people....we could have opted for the one room but it would have been tight with a buffet....so we'll have to cope with the split dining area.I need to find a smaller round table for the dais...and a cover/decoration...we'll sign the license on there then put the cake we're cutting on it.I also need to come up with table number holders and decide how we're going to present the table list.I'll probably print up a list of guests in alphabetical order and put their table number beside their names..might scan the wedding sites for ideas....
But not today...today is a total kickback and enjoy our yard/pool day....unless it rains....

After nearly 2 weeks of waiting for a reply...and eventually leaving a daily message AND email....AND after tracking down the association president online....the little twerp that manages the hall now finally replied to an email. We're meeting tomorrow am for (his suggested) measuring and layout, and to finalize the linen and dish rental totals.
Now I've started watching the long range forecast...sigh.....someone needs to shoot me........up with something really strong and really good.At this point, the weather up to the day before the wedding is mid to high 20's......but there appears to be a drop starting that day....GREAT.....20+ people for a bbq the night before....all spread out in the house....same goes for brunch sunday...which is bigger. In a perfect world it would be 25 and sunny friday thru monday......any bets?
Tomorrow after the hall...the old doll is coming to give her opinion on number of people at each table.....I get to redo the seating chart. The 2 ladies that have had to cancel leaves a big hole because they were at the same table as the other lady couple I mentioned.A perfect combination...now I'm not sure exactly what to do.This is one of the crappy things involved in a wedding.....especially when a couple of family members from another province are still firm maybes.....
The good news is all the grunt work (for this year) in the back yard is done....the bad news is I haven't had the topsoil delivered for the front yard to get ready to re-sod 75% of it.....Monday and Tuesday HAVE to be the days.....10 or 11 days of watering should have it looking good for the wedding weekend.The guy across the road did his 1 1/2 weeks ago...looking good but the joint lines are still very prominant....DAMMIT....
There's a chance we're going to see our friends who's sister/inlaw was killed last week on saturday when we're in Toronto....my first inclination is to give them both a big hug then grab the 2 boys and take them for a gelato or something for an hour or so.....I'm sure a short break from each other will be timely by then....and will give the boys an hour or so without sadness and reminders before they head to the east coast for the memorial service.We'll play it by ear.

As much as I want to rant and rave about the latest setbacks in the life of the world's worst bridezilla....and I will eventually....real life stomped on my head and kicked me in the face last night.
I have call display...I rarely answer the phone....ooops I mean I rarely answer the phone when it's a number I don't recognize.Lately those sneeky bitches at weedman have been hassling us from 2 different numbers.Last night as I was starting dinner I received a toronto area code call...and recognized the neighbourhood's first 3 digits so I answered it.The caller was the best friend of a lady couple we are pretty close to. I spent the first couple of minutes jokingly asking him about his entire life/family because we "know" them...albeit secondhand.He did the same, congratulated me on the upcoming terror weekend...then proceeded to totally ruin my day/week/month....maybe year...it's early yet.....Turns out that the sister of our mutual friend, in Kentucky of all places, had died friday in a "boating accident".....I later learned the gruesome details from the friend who had introduced me to this couple many years ago.I'll spare you the details and suffice to say that the husband has been charged with her murder and there are at least 6 witness'.CRASH.....not the kind of news regarding friends that you want at ANY time in your life.
They had us called first....I'm amazed that at a time like this, their first priority was having him call us to let us know that they would be unable to attend the terror weekend ....before he called our best friends who are much closer to this couple....before he called ANYONE else...they asked him to call us.Sheesh.It almost makes me want to spend the wedding day at their place hanging out with the 2 teen/preteen sons they have just inherited...if they are back yet.The wedding just didn't seem that important last night......

My stress level...which I'm sure will boil over sometime over the next 3 weeks...has subsided a touch today. In spite of not knowing exactly how many of his family are coming for the wedding...and without waiting to hear their opinion...we've got an agenda for the sunday....FINALLY....and the agenda includes trips to 2 different airports late in the afternoon.
I've never encountered a group of people so unwilling to reply/commit to anything before....sheesh...we're not asking for your first born....I already have #5?...LOL...we just want to know what you want to do for the fuggin day. We have 21 people from out of province to entertain for all or part of the day...there logistics to consider....and a van to rent...to go with our 2 cars and a truck....
The SET IN STONE PLANS FOR THE DAY ARE, brunch and a swim here, around 1 pm we will head to Brantford to visit the Mohawk Chapel and the village too if they've reopened it.Rich will drop his sister off at the hamilton airport around 4 (I think)...I will drive Barb to the Toronto airport for 4:30...and we will all meet in the distillery district by 5 for some shopping, gallery wandering and dinner. Afterwards we are going to wander around harbourfront before heading home to Hamilton.
Monday morning is a bit trickier...Dan has to be in Toronto at the airport around 8:30...and Rich's cousin Annetta has to be there around 11....his parents and aunts will be here til that evening...I'm thinking I will be driving to Toronto...drop Dan off...take Annetta for a quick tour...maybe breakfast at Cora's?....after which I will meet up with Rich and his family in Niagara Falls for a couple of hours....I'll worry about Monday tomorrow.....

...and the Arnold's lame tourist ads. This is one fag that won't be spending any money in his bankrupt state and filling his coffers with taxes.
So many countries in the world are waking up to the fact that discrimination against any group is just wrong....even in some states...so WTF is with California and their minority crushing election policies???
In spite of San Francisco being the gay version of Mecca...this is one queer that won't be doing Haj.
One friend in California has suggested a day without gay....followed by a huge protest the following day. Sounds perfect.Another has suggested that the march yesterday....I'm assuming in L.A.....was a fraud run by traitors....stay on one side of the street, don't inconvenience anyone...don't block traffic or intersections. I also agree with this....being nice isn't going to get anything done. It really is high time for some good old fashioned civil disobedience.
A total boycott of California by every queer in North America...and their friends and family would help wake this asshole up. Cut the profits of all the big business' and deny the state state millions in sales tax then watch them squirm. It wouldn't be long before they'd be telling the big churches to take a fuggin hike and stay out of politics.
I'm staring today...no california produce will be bought for my house.We can get enough fruit and vegetables from South America.....or even Florida...for now.....but Florida can be next!
Please forward this to all your gay/gay friendly LJ contacts.....boycott California NOW...

NOT.For the first time in 9 or 10 years, I'm not on a plane heading for Chicago right now.I have mixed emotions about that, but with a wedding,new roof,possibly new windows in the front plus big landscaping expenses(even tho it may not look like it)...we just don't have a couple grand to spend on a weekend away.
This weekend....and every Memorial Day weekend is Bear Pride in Chicago.It literally saved me all those years ago.My good friend Dan, who up to that point had been a chat buddy, suggested we go to Bear Pride to meet.We'd been chatting daily for close to a year....had/have lots in common and were great online friends.....but ya never know how it's gonna go in person.Bear Pride was a great choice.We took up right where we left off online and it was a great weekend.We went for the next 2 years as well....good old Dan would stay at the dance parties long enough to ensure that I was drowning in liquid social courage...then go back to the hotel to sleep.
The first year he didn't want to go....cash was tight...he was suddenly unemployed and moving to Florida....scared the shit out of me. I knew a few people to say hi to but that was about it.I'm not really good in crowds of strangers....so my first year as "super volunteer" became a necessity.What a brilliant move...I was sure to work registration pretty much from start to finish so I met EVERYBODY and became friends with a number of club members. I volunteered for a few years ...had a blast.....until I met Rich and we wanted the weekend for ourselves.He'd never been to Chicago so we took advantage of the 3 trips to have some fun, see some sights....eat at some great restaurants.It's become an annual tradition for us...5 nights in a decent hotel...meals at Ann Sather's,Fogo de Chao, the chinese takeout place in boystown among others.We always made Buck's our hangout for the pub crawl....great patio space....met up with the same table of people EVERY year...Rich would wander around in his boxers teasing the whole crowd.....sigh......not this year.
Bear parties helped encourage me to get out in the gay scene more....take some chances on meeting and dating some people instead of hiding out with my straight friends all the time and sneaking away to the spa now and then....or the stroll LOL LOL LOL.
Tonight, rather than hangin out on the patio at Jackhammer we'll be havin a swim and grillin some chops...Saturday rather than havin a disco nap around 6pm we'll be heading to/at the wedding of some friends and Sunday we're having family here for a combined birthday bbq.....nice/fun....but not Chicago.
It's not all bad of course....the weekend will be fun...and any weekend spent with Rich is as close to heaven as one can get I would suspect.
So, now I'm off to check into the hot........oooops.....I mean put away some laundry and go invest in a tub of sunscreen....I can't be in Chicago this weekend but I will be enjoying some warm sunny days at home......but I hope BP in Chicago is a blast for all my friends and a new experience for some!

Our first weekend as suburb party central is grinding to a slow halt today.Since friday night, we've had a chunk of 17 guests at one time or another.....thankfully never all at once because the weather was either mild and wet or cold and sunny so it meant being indoors for the most part. I didn't get to try out the new stainless steel griddle I bought for the grill either because when I started cooking breakfast sunday morning it was only 2C outside.
Most of our friends are gamers of a sort. We had a bunch playing rockband in the living room while the den had another group with their laptops playing Warcraft on saturday. I'm a spectator with that stuff....which is good cause I'm also the cook.Just as one meal ended it was time to start prepping for the next.It was fun. The pool even got some use every day in spite of the weather....the pool was kept at 83F for the weekend.
The weekend also included 3 newbies.....2 friends of friends visiting from Alberta and a local guy Rich has been chatting with online a bit.The local was a "score"....nice guy...fun...had a good time...
Unfortunately Luke the retarded german shepherd and Athena the german shepherd princess weren't gonna settle down and ignore each other for very long so Athena went home Saturday after breakfast.Always having to monitor the 2 of them was gonna be a little stressful.
Last night around midnight the last guests headed home and we collapsed into bed. It was a great time.
Today for the holiday there's lots of laundry and housework as well as a pool that needs cleaning and a solar blanket to get rinsed off so we can cover the pool at night again.

We've been going around saying Luke the retarded German Shepherd is 10....we were lying....I thumbed thru his chart at the vet this morning. I got him in Aug of 98....he was born in Jan....he's 11 1/2.....holy crap.He has spent 11 years living with a heavy smoker, rolling around in the most heavily chemicled lawn in the neighbourhood.....and judging by his condition, will definitely live past the average for a dog of his size and breed....go figure......