Happy Anniversary, Sebastien! (a haiku)

leaves grow, change, fall, grow

just as we go through the same.

many more to come.

What a Ridiculous Place I Live

This weekend was wonderful.

Saturday we went to Playland (the oldest amusement park in Canada, by the way) for my friend's birthday. We all rode the roller coasters and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect (not too hot/ not too cool), and it was a great group of people. Happy birthday, H!

I have to admit that I am not the biggest roller coaster fan out there. I can ride spinny/swoopy rides all day (think Teacups), but coasters aren't my thing. Especially not my thing is the wooden roller coaster, inventively named "The Coaster," built in 1958. The huge bruise on my knee says it all (I was out of my seat and on my feet a few times), and every time I've ridden it (yes, I've been dragged on a few times now), despite my best efforts, the pictures at the end of the ride always tell the same story: my head is once again in Sebastien's lap, as we go over the biggest drop. It is a scary ride. That is why people go on it, I guess.
Sunday was a great day as well. Sebastien was in class all day (archery), so I was able to have some good Hope-time, and take care of some things. I cooked a little at home after church, did some laundry, and then I rode my bike out to Jericho Beach, to hear the music from the Vancouver Folk Festival.

Sitting in the warm sun, listening to good reggae.... There is nothing like it.

Marry My Son (Please!)

Last night I was at a dinner party with some of my great girl friends, and one of them told a story about how her parents once set her up on a date with a guy (who will remain nameless), mostly because he, too, is Jewish, and was their friends' son. Well, she went out on the date, and soon after she gave her parents two options:

1)they could try to set her up again and never have her as a dinner guest at their house again, or 2)they could not EVER try to set her up again, and maintain a good relationship with her!

Mr. Obvious says it wasn't that great of a date*.... It was a great story, and we all laughed about the circumstances.

Imagine my amusement when this morning I opened one of my favorite blogs, A Cup of Jo, and found a post about this very thing! The New York Post also wrote an article about it! How hilarious! And what a great idea too....

Would you ever set up one of your kids (grandchildren/nieces/nephews, etc.) on a date, or would you be okay with your parent (grandparent/aunt/uncle, etc.) setting you up?

Thank you, S, for such a great story! Thank you also for organizing such a relaxing, entertaining, and tasty evening. I love you gals!

*There was, of course, more to this story, but I am not one to hear kiss & tell stories and then tell again!

The Little Monsters Finally Got Those Little Monsters

So sweet!!!

My sister-in-law just received her package with the "those little monsters" for my nephews, and wrote a really sweet blog post about it! I am so happy they like them! These are some cutey-pie little boys! I love them so much. They deserve the stars!

Anyway, I thought you might like to see them, actually being played with, and not just by me, around the city (those are to come, now that Chris and Chip got the package). Enjoy!!

Long Walks, Long Links, Long Weekend, Part 2

Saturday morning started out at 7:30am, when we woke to walk to the ferry dock, arms full of groceries we bought for a ship full of kids aged 13 to 16 (and a few adults too).

Our friend Stephen (you've heard of him before - he was the professor we taught with this past spring) is volunteering on the Pacific Grace, a tallship owned and operated by the Sail and Life Training Society (SALTS). He has worked with them for years, and asked us to help him gather supplies for a delightful* paella. (Stephen's very charming use of "delightful" never fails to make me smile.)

We were lucky enough to join the crew and the students aboard for breakfast, and a quick sail around Burrard Inlet. This is their first trip of the summer, and we feel very lucky to have joined them, even if it was just for a few short hours.

When we got home, we made a nice Spanish chorizo, and had a lot of time to hang out, listen to music, drink rum punch, and cook. It was a lovely afternoon, and turned into a very relaxing evening.

Yesterday after church we came home and got ready for the week, making date bars, doing laundry, cleaning up the apartment, getting packages ready for sending (!), etc....

I made some shortcakes for a sweet 4th of July barbeque with our good friends Sarah, Joy & Ted, and served them along with mixed berries (of the straw-, blue-, and black- varieties) with mint, rum, and just a touch of sugar. Delicious. It was a wonderful wrap-up to a wonderful weekend.

Yup - it is official - I am a lucky, LUCKY girl.

I hope you a great one too!

Long Walks, Long Links, Long Weekend, Part 1

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Long weekends make it all worth it.

Thursday July 1st was Canada Day, and because we are living in Canada now, we took advantage of the day off! Seb and I also took Friday off, to make the weekend especially luxurious!

We were busy little bees this weekend, but in the best way possible. It wasn't that we had much planned; we didn't. It was busy in the way summer days should be.

For Canada Day, we took a long walk around town, to stretch our legs a bit. We walked just a touch over 8 miles, and ended our walk at the Yaletown Grand Prix, to cheer on our friend Ted and his cycling team. We went home for a while, and left soon after because Sebastien represented Acadamie Duello in the Canada Day Parade (along with 53 other swordspeople)! After that we were thoroughly exhausted.

Friday we did another long walk (this one 12 - 1/2 miles), picking up groceries and lunch along the way, and chatting about all the different neighborhoods we passed through.

After our lovely walk and delicious lunch (near mile marker 6), we made sure to take off our hiking boots (!). We headed off to watch our friend Anil's passion project for the last year - a documentary series pilot (the two episodes we watched were about Jodhpur, India). It is splendid. I can't wait for it to get picked up by Discovery or TLC (any of you out there reading this work for Discover or TLC?)!

It was a relaxing couple of days, even more so because we would normally have been at work!