Archive for July, 2005

Absence…

…makes the heart grow fonder.

Barb and I have split up for the next 12 days. I’ve returned to College Station, while she has stayed back in St. Kitts until 8 August. In that time, I plan to get some reading and writing done (hopefully making progress on my thesis), while Barb plans to visit with out-of-town family and attend a family wedding.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time up north, but it was definitely time to get back to work. The time off was much-needed, but I can’t vacation indefinitely. Of course, I will miss Barb these next few days, but the time apart will give me a chance to really dig into work.

Showing off…

…our nephews! As we’ve looked through the pictures we’ve taken while we’ve been here, Dave noticed that almost all of them were of our nephews. I hadn’t taken many pictures of anything other than them! They’re so cute, I thought I would show them off a little.


[L to R: Samuel (Sammy), Owen (Owie), and Simon (Si-Si)]

Owie is the oldest (he just turned 2 in May) and Jeff and Becky’s first. He has become soooo busy in the last few months, running (big runs and little runs, a.k.a. walking), playing, and talking (kids say the darndest things!). He’s very affectionate as well; he is all over his uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousin!

Sammy is the second, and Jon and Karen’s first. He’s enormous! (At his three month weigh-in, he was 18.6 lbs., beating his father’s three month record of 18 lbs.!) As you can see in the picture, we’ve got him outfitted to take a place in the Aggies offensive line already. He should be ready next season! Sammy’s very cuddly and smiley, which means I try to hold him as often as possible!

Si-Si is the newest (he’s 8 weeks old); he’s Jeff and Becky’s second and Owie’s little brother (he loves being an older brother!). Si-Si is a little peanut (especially next to cousin Sammy!). Because he’s so young, he hasn’t developed much of a personality yet, but he likes to cuddle too, which makes him good to hold.

We’ve really enjoyed spending time with these little guys! Can’t wait to see them in November!

Oh, the memories we shared…

Well, we just finished our 10 year high school reunion festivities this weekend and, yes, we had a good time. (It seems to me that a lot of people don’t enjoy their reunions; that wasn’t the case with us.) Saturday night we had a dinner at a local restaurant with students and significant others; Sunday was a family BBQ at a local park. Anyway, there’s not much to say. It was probably like a lot of other reunions: some people have ended up in surprising places (surprising based on what we knew of them in high school), and others ended up in not-so-surprising places. Some have changed dramatically, some not at all. It was interesting to find out where all people had been in the last 10 years. We ended up having a well-traveled class!

There was some humour to the weekend. Bill (one of the organizers) came dressed in our old school uniform! We also had music from those years playing throughout Saturday evening; in some cases, it’s hard to believe that we actually listened to some of that stuff.

We were able to catch up with some people with whom we’ve lost contact, resurrect friendships that have been put on hold, and get to know some people all over again. (There are some people to whom I said more words this weekend than I ever did in 4 years of high school!) Thanks to the organizers of the weekend. See you at the next one!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks…

… (without internet access to boot) and we’re just now getting a chance to sit down and write a quick update. We’ve been away from College Station for nearly two weeks now and we’ve been anything but lazy.

To begin with, our flight north was delayed for three hours, pushing our 9.00 pm arrival in Buffalo to 12.00 am (Friday July 8). Dave’s brother Jon, his wife Karen, and their newborn son Sammy were at the airport to pick us up. To extend an already long day, we got lost briefly in Buffalo on the way home. That didn’t matter much though, as it gave us more time to catch up with Jon and Karen. We stayed at their place for two nights, were able to see friends Kim and Sean Moffett at breakfast on Friday, as well as Barb’s Dad and stepmom Leslie at lunch. By Saturday, it was off to the cottage in Sauble Beach for a week with Dave’s family: Mom and Dad; Jeff, Becky, Owen, and newborn Simon; Jon, Karen, and Sammy; and Jess and Mike. The cottage we rented backed on to a river, and we shared a beach and dock with the next door neighbours. For the most part, we played in the sun and water with Owen (many sunburns to be had!), read magazines, took naps, played Sudoku (an addictive brain teaser), went for ice cream, and caught up with each other. On Wednesday, we were able to rent 2 SeaDoos for the day and had a great day out on the lake.

On Friday, we (Barb and Dave) drove 8 hours to Wakeman, Ohio to spend the weekend at Barb’s Uncle Abe and Aunt Eleanor’s bed and breakfast. We had a great weekend chatting, eating, relaxing (and playing tennis to work off all the food we ate). The farm has always been such a relaxing place for us, and this time was no exception.

We arrived back in St. Catharines Sunday evening and have been staying at Dave’s parents’ place. Since we’ve been here we’ve visited with grandparents and friends, spent more time with immediate family, and caught up on sleep. This weekend, we have our 10 year high school reunion to look forward to (we’ll report on that later).

And… they’re off!

We’ve left the state of Tejas today to return north for a while. I plan to stay for nearly 3 weeks, while Barb will be staying for 5 weeks. We’ve got an action-packed vacation planned, spending some time at the beach with family, going to Ohio to visit more family on the farm, seeing old friends at our 10 year high school reunion, seeing family from Winnipeg for Barb, and attending a family wedding (again, Barb only). We’ll update you here periodically with pics and news!

To all our Texan friends, see you when we get back!

Born on the Fourth of July

Apologies for posting this a little late, but I celebrated my 28th birthday on Monday (and Wednesday, again). Monday most of our day was spent driving back from Port Aransas. We got home at 2.30, unpacked, grabbed a quick shower, and left right away for a party at our friends Dennis and Danielle’s place. My friend Lori also celebrated her birthday on the 4th, so we had a big joint party. About 30 people showed up. Here are some pictures of some of the guests (regrettably, we don’t have pictures of all who came).


[L to R: Dave Birch, Aiden, Phil, and Lora Riley, Lori Birch (birthday girl)]


[L to R: Dave, me (birthday girl), Levi, Paula Sophia, and Aiskell Portillo]


[L to R: Sara and Steve Moffit, Jason and Kristen DeVore, Jonathan and Elizabeth Strickland]


[L to R: Levi, Paula Sophia, and Aiskell, Ted and Teddi Hamilton, Angela and Chris Wilke]


[Sophia and (hostess) Danielle Ignatenko]

I had a great time! Thanks to all who came and to the Ignatenkos for hosting!

Last night, we had dinner at friends Jeremy and Wendy Evans’ place to say a quick good-bye before heading north. Yesterday was also my last time to see Brayton and Avery (Jeremy and Wendy’s daughter)–my two little babies!–before leaving for a month. After dinner, we got together with the DeVores, Moffits, and Stricklands (at the DeVores) for cake and coffee to celebrate some more. In addition to my birthday, we celebrated Kristen’s birthday (July 5th), Elizabeth’s birthday (July 10th), and the Moffit’s anniversary (July 10th). I’m looking forward to getting a spa pedicure with the girls (a birthday gift) when I get back from Canada.

Thanks to all up north who sent cards and phoned. See you soon!

Fourth of July — Beach-Style

So, what were the big weekend plans mentioned earlier? Well, we were able to get away for a long weekend with some new friends to celebrate Canada Day and US Independence Day, as well as explore some previously uncharted (by us) Texan territory. Where did we go? Port Aransas, which is along the Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico, just east of Corpus Christi.

We’re thankful to have had the opportunity to go. Some friends, Chris and Angela Wilke, called us up earlier and invited us to join them and 2 other couples (Matt and Amy Faulkner and Jeremy and Megan Stewart) for the weekend at Angela’s co-worker’s beach house (which was actually a short drive from the beach). (Sidebar: we actually had to break into the house. The key was supposed to be in an unlocked screen porch. However, when we went to open the screen door, we found to our dismay that it was locked, which meant we couldn’t get to the key. Thankfully, a neighbour lent us a screwdriver, so we could take off some of the frame of the screen door, which allowed us to get into the screen porch, and, alas, the much needed key!) The beach was nice, the water warm, and the sun hot (although Barb spent more time at the beach than I did, so she can attest to all this better than I). One of the great elements of the weekend was the opportunity to spend time relaxing and visiting with some folks we previously hadn’t spent much time with. By the end of the weekend, we had developed several great new friendships.


[Clockwise from left: Barb, Angela, Chris, Matt, Amy, Megan, Jeremy]

Some highlights: On Friday night, Chris and Angela and Barb and I went out to eat at a restaurant called the Crazy Cajun. (The others were still making the trek south.) This place was pretty cool! All the tables were covered in butcher paper and when the food was brought out, the waiter simply dumped our order on the table! We ordered a couple servings of the ‘Hungry Cajun’, which was filled with crab legs, shrimp, crawfish, sausage, and corn. The only utensil we were given was a hammer — used to crack open the shellfish. It was a great night of food, drink, and fun. If you’re ever in Port A, check it out!

Also, we were introduced by Matt and Amy to a new Playstation game: Dance Dance Revolution Max 2 (DDR for short). Hands down, DDR consumed 50% of our waking hours; it’s quite addictive! It works like this: instead of controllers, each player uses a large footmat with left, right, up, and down arrows. A song is played and arrows scroll up the screen to indicate where to place your feet. The end result is a hilarious attempt to ‘dance’ while following along on the TV! This is a definite must for large, uninhibited groups!

Finally, I found out that Matt and Amy were Settlers players. (I had only encountered one other person down here who has actually played the game, but he doesn’t own a board.) Once this became known, it was inevitable (from my perspective anyway) that a few rounds of settling would have to take place. And settling we did, late into the night both Saturday and Sunday! It was great to finally scratch that nagging itch to play!

All in all, it was a great weekend; a great way to celebrate our first Fourth of July as pseudo-Americans (in addition to our first out-of-country Canada Day).

Happy Canada Day!

To all our compatriots…