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29 September 03
OK, so much has happened I can't tell you it all on this
page. Soooo......a few highlights first, then on.
Dave and Em got married - I have a new sister. Unfortunately I couldn't attend, but by all accounts (and a few phonecalls) I missed one hell of a party, not least Matt's speech and the reception volleyball in the pool. I don't have any pictures, but I know Em has some on the web. My love and congratulations to you both and I'll see you soon guys.
My boys U12 team won the football. This year I was coach proper, and we won the division (much to the annoyance of people who've been doing it for years). Ok Gaz, I never could play that well, but I guess those than can, do - and those that can't, coach. Anyway, we had a great time, a seriously fun summer, and I have never been in the middle of so much politics in my life!
Finally, on September 7 Sarit and I got married...
31
October 02
Halloween is big here. I mean really big! Several
thousand small children with their parents (and that's just in Sarit's brother's
road!), all running around demanding candy with menaces. Seriously, we
went out with the boys and had a really fun time. The houses are all
decorated up and so are the people. See the photos page for scary
halloween pics of pumpkins and other things.
28
October 02
OK, loads of news to greet you with on the new site:
1. I am engaged. Sarit agreed to marry me in September, and we are
hoping to have the ceremony 7 September 2003. For the out of touch among
you, Sarit and I met at the start of the year, and have been together since
March. She has two wonderful kids - Josh (9) and Aaron (7). Aaron is
the musical one, and Josh is a sports nut. Currently I am in training to
be a hockey dad, having helped coach his football team in the summer.
There will be a party in the UK immediately following the wedding in Canada,
which I hope you will all be attending.
2. I still have a job. Just in case you were wondering. And
I'm still enjoying it, and learning new stuff all the time.
3. My trip back to the UK was fantastic in June - many thank to Dave and
Em for the accommodation. If I didn't get to see you I am sorry, I tried
to fit in as many visits as I could. And the weather was fantastic, which
makes a change.
4. Gaz and Helen are due a baby any day now - my congratulations to you
both.
5. Sarit's parents have a pool and a Jacuzzi (see Dave and Em for
details). Just thought I'd rub it in!
6. Winter is coming. Following a summer of 30+ temperatures (haha)
it has dropped to single figures, with minuses at night. Roll on the snow,
and the reacquainting of my board and myself. I'm hoping to get Sarit and
the boys out on the slopes this year - keep an eye out for the pictures!
7. Halloween. A big thing here! Sunday afternoon was spent
carving pumpkins in (all over) the kitchen. Scary faces now abound on the
front porch. Beware!! Trick or treating (demanding candy with
menaces) will be taking place Thursday night, apparently I need a costume - not
convinced yet.
16 May 02
Wow - has it really been that long since I wrote here. I must
apologise, I am so sorry that I've been busy doing interesting things
and having fun...
Seriously, I have been rushed off my feet with work and social life, and
just haven't found the inclination to spend any more time in front of a
computer than I am already. I have been in touch with most of you
one way or another through email, phone calls, etc - so if you are one
of those who is feeling left out...this news is for YOU.
I MUST EXPLAIN…
Sarit is my not-so-new-now girlfriend. We’ve been together since
Easter, and having a wonderful time. I have no pictures right now, and
wouldn’t post them on here if I had! You’ll all have to wait. Suffice
it to say I’m very happy, having fun, and far too busy all round to be
playing on the net all the time!
24 March 02
I spent the weekend in Quebec snowboarding. Drove
up on Friday (6 hours) found a motel behind the slopes and holed up
there in a little village called St Saveur - very nice. Weather
was very snowy and cold on Friday. Saturday was blue skies, fresh
powder and great boarding. I discovered I've been leading with the
wrong foot all this time - switched round and bugger me if I couldn't
suddenly turn properly! This new found confidence led to a couple
of incidents:
1. The snowdrift
With your new found control you find yourself going faster than before.
Still practising, you realise that the turn you are trying to make isn't
going to happen before you collide with the large tree in front of you.
With split second timing you decide to fall over and embed yourself in
the large bank of snow just before the tree - hoping it slows you down
enough. When you resurface from the facefull of snow you just got,
you realise you missed the tree by about a foot, but are now buried in a
snowdrift with a plank strapped to your feet. Spend at least 10
minutes trying to pull yourself out of it or lie there completely
helpless like a fool.
2. The skier
This isn't funny. Again, with your new found skills you are
negotiating your way round somebody in front of you when they stop dead
and turn right into you. With care and finesse you pile into them,
knocking their legs out from under them with your board, twisting your
knee irreparably and really pissing them off. They grumble at you
in French then ski off; leaving you lying on the floor in agony.
So as you can see a great time was
had. John and I found some lovely little restaurants to eat in,
and on Sunday we drove another 45 mins North to a place called Mont
Tremblant. The biggest run there is 19,000(!)ft and they've built
a whole village around it. I got out the car, put on my boots,
stood up, fell over, knee was not going to work, and I spent the next 4
hours wandering around the village while John boarded. Arse.
The drive home was great - I have never before been stopped in the
middle of a corner to allow dogsleds past!! The main road was like
a permanent rollercoaster on ice, which was nice. 7 1/2 hours
later I got home, had a medicinal JD for my knee and went to bed.
So, what did the rest of you do at the weekend?
17
March 02
Neil drove up for the weekend. We had a quiet
night in on Friday - few beers and a pizza. Little did we know
that the pizza was in fact poisoned, or at least very undercooked.
We both woke up with howling guts on Saturday, and spent the first part
of the day taking shifts (yes, shiFts) in the bathroom. Late on in
the afternoon we got up the courage to move more than 20 seconds away
from it, and too a trip downton to the CN Tower. Its 1000 feet up
and very impressive. Saturday night we went out into town and saw
a very strange band called The Hanson Brothers - two 40+ punk rockers
and their bass player Hannibal (really, mask and everything), one mad
drummer and a hockey referee (who was there to keep order - honest!!).
They were great, and played a top song called "Joey Had To Go" - a
tribute to the late great Joey Ramone. We're never ordering pizza
from there again!
10
March 02
OK, another week
passes. And nothing of any interest happens at all. Felix
has taken to waking me up every morning at around 6am - sod! Very
busy at work. Nothing else of interest to report I'm afraid.
Neil is coming up for St Patrick's Day this weekend coming, and I'm off
snowboarding in Quebec the weekend after. Then it's April - wow.
I spent most of Saturday on the phone to people back home, which was
nice (some of you will get that)! It's nice to catch up on gossip
and stuff.
03
March 02
I have been working at
client's all week and not seen the inside of my office. Jamie
finally left on Monday afternoon, after a false departure on Sunday.
Tuesday was the last ever Jam Night at the Fox and Fiddle, though rumour
has it there will be another night sometime, somewhere. Thursday
evening I spent a few hours helping my friends Jo and Pete move house,
until my ever famous knee gave out, leaving me limping with small boxes
only. Saturday I popped over to my old place to get back a lost CD
and made a commemorative trip to Licks for lunch with Jen and my
replacement roommate Lisa there. Then AT LAST - Grand Prix is
back.. Watched the whole of the Australian at 10pm local time. YAY!! Sunday - well you can see what
I'm doing with Sunday!
5 THINGS YOU DIDN'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT QUEBEC:
1. Its French.
2. They have language police - a task force committed to fining poor merchants and restauranteurs etc who dare to display anything in English more prominently than its French counterpart. Menus, instructions, Welcome signs, anything. Mad.
3. Its cold. Its further North and snows a lot.
4. Their traffic lights are sideways! Two red lights at either end, then an orange and green in the middle - extremely confusing.
5. And this is the killer one....natives from France have great trouble being understood here. Not content with being French in the first place, they've devised a version of it that makes them even more secluded than the real French!!
THE FELIX
COLUMN
Well it's about time I
got to say something. Honestly, flown 4000 miles round the world,
nearly killed by a car, moved three times in as many months - it's a
wonder I'm still the same old sane cat I always was. No, hang on a
minute...
Anyway, so I've got this great new game. Around 5am I start
trashing the place in an attempt to wake up Grantley. The digital
camera comes off the top shelf of the desk onto the floor, pictures go
flying, things get knocked over and off of other things - plus I jump up
on the bed in a very persistent fashion. Then, when he finally
relents and gets up to feed me, I take two mouthfuls and retire back
onto the bed to sleep... HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!!
So the new place is ok, not as much attention as I should be getting,
but the food is alright and it's not too cold. At least I've been
in the same place for more than 2 weeks. I have no idea what
outside looks like, except when I climb up on top of this big shiny new
TV, put paw prints all over it and drape my tail in the way of the
screen so that I can push my way through the curtains - leaving them
covered in fur, and knock things off of the rather narrow windowsill.
You have to be there...but again, VERY FUNNY!!
More from me next week...Miaowww!!
SWING BATTER…
Baseball – I’ve finally seen my first game. We went on Wednesday night
to see the Toronto Blue Jays lose, just for a change. Also my first
visit to the SkyDome, but they didn’t open the dome. Baseball is
actually a great spectator sport, made even better when you don’t really
care who wins.
The funniest moment of the night…when the Blue Jays mascot got bored in
the interval, grabbed a poor kid trying to sell candyfloss in the
aisles, stole all the bags of candyfloss and proceeded to throw them out
to the crowd for free! Very funny, very entertaining night in all,
recommended as a “must do” when you visit. Many thanks to my wonderful
Sarit for the tickets for the two of us.
CANADA’S WONDERLAND…
This is a huge theme park and water park just outside the city,
about 20 minutes away. It’s got loads of rides for kids, even more for
adults and then a full on water park as well. It’s like Alton Towers
and Thorpe Park combined! Fantastic.
Haven’t been into the water park yet, barely scraped the surface of the
rides – however with a full season ticket (more thanks to Sarit) it will
all be done sooner or later.
Another “must do” if you visit in the summer (that’s when it gets hot!)