My Weekend away ..

I was getting a little bored so I decided to go away for the weekend! 

Hmmm - where to go? What to do? There was Jess' wedding (Jessica Elliott - she of Brenda&Brad & Disney on Ice/Cinderella fame) in Toronto on January 18th and they did invite me! No more Aeroplan points - boo hoo! Oh well I checked; prices weren't too bad - number of flights weren't too bad - Joseph said "why not" and Ashely said there was still room for me at a table! So nine days before the wedding I booked …

The Itinerary

                                  Thursday Jan 16 Adelaide - Auckland - LA - Toronto 
                                  Friday Jan 17 Arrive T.O. 5.45 a.m.       

                                  Friday Jan 17 Rehearsal dinner 8.00 p.m. Mill St

                                  Saturday Jan 18 Wedding 4.00 pm  Trinity Church, Reception at Schoolhouse behind

                                  Sunday Jan 19 Breakfast @hotel, Dinner + overnight with Les & Gwen

                                  Mon Jan 20 noon Toronto- LA - Auckland 
                                  Tuesday Jan 22 Arrive Adelaide -  10.40 a.m.

Here's the good, the bad and the ugly (oh so ugly) of my (long) weekend away…

Good ( there was a lot of GOOD on this trip!):

• PILLS:  Tons of pills thanks to friends - who needs doctors when you have (good) friends!
• PREFERRED SEAT:   Extra $$s for (slightly) better seats,(slightly) further up front,(slightly) more room/tilt 
• PRIORITY BOARDING: Thanks to "preferred seat" - worth every penny!  I hate lining up!
• GAP:     Empty seat between me and isle-man Auckland-LA = yummy!
• EARLY FLIGHT:  Made earlier flight LA-TO - arrived 11.30 p.m. (see ugly). 
• MARRIOTT:  Good old Marriott; free shuttle, nice room and FREE (just enough points left)!
• CONDO:    Happy to see completed kitchen in our condo - well done Nathan - condo looked good
• MILKSHAKE:    Spiked (White Russian;Kahlua, Vodka,Van.Icecream) + Mac'nCheese (Truffle Oil)       from old neighbourhood Thompson Hotel Diner - yum, yum
• HOTEL:   Omni King Edward; lovely big room, nice bed, huge bathroom (huge bath), TV in bathroom mirror!!, free WiFii, free  tea/coffee each morning! New favourite hotel!

• 

  TV in my mirror - took me a couple of days to figure it out

• SURPRISE:   Best surprise ever, first Brenda then Jess, at the rehearsal dinner. It's been 1+ years since I saw them.  Well done Ash for keeping the secret.  



There were tears - lots of tears!

•  POPCORN:    Brenda's loot bag full of goodies saved the day (night) for 3.a.m. hunger attack (and I don't even like popcorn)
  

•  WEDDING a.m   Spent the morning with the bridal party having makeup and hair done - such a special treat

the befores ...

The (almost) afters - for Ashley Jess  & Christine

•  WEDDING p.m.  Wonderful, wonderful wedding! Jess' dress was spectacular! Brenda looked amazing! Ash surprised Jess with a children's choir! Sparkler tunnel was crazy fun! Lovely reception in  school house. Steak dinner worthy of 4-star restaurant! Speeches gut-wrenching but Ashley's  won standing ovation! … and they mentioned me coming!! Oh it was so worthwhile!

Ashley, Talia, Jess and Sanah!
Christine was missing but it's too beautiful a pic to leave out.
 Shows the back of Jess dress! 

Proud dad Brad - beautiful bride Jess!

Brenda and brother-in-law Boyd.
Her dress was emerald green and looked spectacular.

The surprise children's choir singing at the end.
Brilliant surprise Ash!

the crazy sparkler tunnel!

The left-over sparklers exploded
and the person holding them had to dump them in the snow!

That's a princess and her prince!

Aaaaaw!

• DAY AFTER:     Breakfast with wedding guests at hotel, me "helping" with cleanup of reception (if my sad efforts on one mirror = help)
• LAST NIGHT:    Dinner & overnight with Les & Gwen in their lovely new house - such a treat.
• CANADA:    First time in the US as a Canadian!! Such a breeze compared to being Australian. 
• WEATHER:   Cold (very cold) before I arrived and cold (very cold) again on day I left, but weather was perfect while I was in TO  (-10c?)
• ANZ LOUNGE LA:  $60 to spend 8 hrs in Air New Zealand Bus. Lounge and worth every penny!! Shower (because I could) + food + champagne + sleep + PRIORITY BOARDING!! (I hate lining up)

Bad (there really wasn't much bad about this trip):

• PREFERRED SEAT:  Other than my seat on LA-Auckland flight having less leg room than an ordinary seat and therefore not worthy of "preferred" classification or extra $$s - there really wasn't anything else "bad" about the trip!  Not even the bumps Auckland-LA!!  I seemed to almost enjoy them (oh such great pills!)

• NO iPHONE:  I left my iPhone home to avoid hidden costs (pills can do that) so all I had was my iPad to take photos.  It's great for reading but quite the intrusion taking photos; down the isle as the bride walks in so the official photographer can't see her!, at the reception table!, and pretty much whenever else I wanted to take a photo …

  

  … and I can't figure out how to take a selfie with it!!

Ugly (it usually gets ugly when I'm on pills):

• LATE ARRIVAL:      Arriving in TO at 11.30 pm. with no hotel wasn't great - but doable - just call Marriott Fairfield - they have a room and the lovely lady said they will send a shuttle.  Ugly started  outside at the airport after 1.5 hrs of no shuttle and me in tears, in my cotton dress with my blazer and wool tights getting colder and too scared to go inside to call incase I missed the shuttle. Pleading every time the BIG Marriott bus when past and finally he  stopped and let me inside and he called Fairfield for me.  Alas!  the Fairfield Inn didn't  have a reservation for me, never had a woman on duty that night and there was no shuttle!   So who on EARTH did I call and book with??  Oh dear those pills! 

• MISSED BREAKFAST!!:        LA-Auckland - woke up and realized I had no breakfast!  Growled at my neighbour as to why they didn't wake me (tried he said - ha!  sure you did!). So in my sleeveless cotton  dress with armpits at (his) head-height - I leaned over him and buzzed the "attendant" button about 100 times until the "attendant" (what are they called?) ran down the isle to find out what the problem (emergency?) was.  "You missed serving me breakfast and I'm starving" I cried.  I think she wanted to strangle me but she came back with my breakfast god bless her!   Oh dear those pills! 
  
  

In the end …

                               It was a crazy trip, mostly crazy that I went all that way (and suffered all those flights I 

                               hate so much) and still didn't make it to Ottawa! So I missed seeing friends there (well 

                               those that weren't at the wedding)   BUT if I had been away any longer it would have made 

                               it a completely different trip on so many levels, and while it breaks my heart to miss out on 

                               Ottawa and friends, as it turned out , it was pretty-much a perfect trip. I'm so glad I went - 

                               so grateful to be part of Jess' wedding and so grateful, that in the middle of the busiest day 

                               in their lives, Brenda, Brad, Ash and Jess took the time to make sure I was looked after.  

                               Dear me - what did I ever do to deserve such good friends!

Christmas 2013

It was our second Christmas here in Adelaide with my family but it was the first one in our own house so there were no more excuses ...

Our three-level house.  Christmas on top - New Years on the bottom!

CHRISTMAS CARDS ..

 I had absolutely no excuses for not sending Christmas cards this year - so I did - and was delighted to receive some as well.  My Christmas list is somewhere in Ontario so some names didn't make it ! … and even if you did make it to my 2013 list let me mention that the 2014 list will be significantly shorter (non-existent?) …. unless Australia Post reduces the price of their stamps by 90% instead of increasing it, as was the case for 2013.

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING  ...

Last year after arriving at the end of November we were still in dreamland!  This year - no excuses!!  So we dedicated a whole day to shop (we can do that - we are retired now!) something I haven't done in a long, long time.  We agonized (and agonized) over the gifts and i realized how much I miss our store! … and even more so after paying $39 to park the car for the day!!  We do secret Santa for the adults, thank goodness so not so many gifts to buy - but even at that I had some definite misses.

This gift was a hit … sort of!

CHRISTMAS BAKING ...

Since the start of this millennium I've had an excuse for no Christmas baking.  Last year we were in our van so still nothing.  THIS year -  no excuses!!  After I asked Jasper if  he wanted to make a ginger-cookie/Santa decorations for his mum and he cried (!!) I decided to make my first-ever gingerbread house!  I've helped Jane (Keogh) with icing for her daughter Emily's scholarship fundraising houses (well I dump spoonfuls into a bag!)  but I've never actually made one of my own.  To make sure it wasn't a disaster I bought the kit from IKEA!    

On the next babysitting day Jess & James came over to help Jasper decorate it.   All we had to do was MAKE the house so they could start!! Well, I made the icing according to the IKEA instructions but of course it wouldn't come out of the stupid bag and Joseph couldn't get the stupid walls & roof to stay together and then the kids were bored and then when the icing did come out it exploded and there was icing all over the table and floor and  then the kiddies started to eat the candies (which I must admit were pretty-darned good - from IKEA) and so after an hour- we scrapped it!  

I was pretty shattered by this grandmother-failure, so one night all alone I took the icing that had thickened to almost cement and slapped (and I mean slapped) it onto the walls and roof and it stuck!  So then I shoved (and I mean shoved) the candies randomly over the roof and around the house. I refused to make more icing so it really was the most ugly gingerbread house ever and I'm sorry I don't have a picture to prove it - just this one after Jess & James had the pleasure of smashing it on New Years.

Smashed gingerbread house - you'll just have to try and imagine how ugly it was!

                           Christmas Eve supper!

CHRISTMAS LUNCH:

Since the start of this millennium we've had an excuse for not hosting the Christmas meal.  We even resorted to Thyme and Again dinner for a few years!  Last year we were in our van so we still had an excuse.  THIS year - we had absolutely NO excuse!

On the second level - getting ready to go UP!!

 From the moment we first saw this house we decided Christmas meal for the family would be "up on the deck" - the THIRD floor deck.  It's beautiful up there - 360 views and a breeze most times (sometimes gale-force!) and it's only 24 stairs UP from the kitchen so with a forecast of 34c -  that's where 14 of us were headed for our big Christmas meal (lunch) 

Sadly, after the100th time going up and down those 24 stairs I started to hate that deck. There is a sink up there and space for a fridge and (i guess) a stove/microwave but we weren't there yet. We already had plates and cutlery up there - but even if you cooked up there - I can't see how to avoid those crazy stairs.   - And even if you have your darling children to call upon, and even if you can convince (threaten) your nieces and nephews to make a few trips - seriously - it is a lot of stairs!!  

  Regardless of the extra exercise and trauma of cooking for 14 (I know - only 14!!)  it turned out to be a lovely lunch and everybody was happy and we enjoyed our special little crazy place to get together!!!

Resting after lunch - getting ready for supper - back UP the stairs!

BOXING DAY SHOPPING

I have never (ever) been shopping on Boxing Day and after all those years of getting up early the day after Christmas Day ( still exhausted from the weeks before) to run a SALE  - I'm pretty sure we vowed we never (ever) would.  BUT … poor Cassia lives a million miles from shopping-worthy stores and there was precious little time she was here visiting - so what is a mother to do but get up early and go shopping ... on BOXING DAY!!    We should have done a little homework because, except for the people lining up, we were almost alone on the mall (only downtown stores were open) because the stores didn't open until - 11.00 a.m.!!  urgh! Oh well a few opened at 10 and Cassia did find some nice things and by the time we were ready to leave the crowds had increased to the point where it was almost impossible to cross to the other side of the mall.  

Trying to get from here ...

… over to here!



Pablo is here!

So that was a first (and probably a last)  … but a crazy fun thing to do together as well.

After a nightmare in customs (traces of drugs on his brand-new carry-on luggage!!) finally he is here!

NEW YEARS!! - and with no excuses left  for not hosting New Years Eve - it was yet another party !! 

 This time the party was  on ground level - about 18 stairs DOWN from the kitchen!!  Mum had a minor car accident that resulted in a broken tibia and sternum and needed a brace on her leg that meant she couldn't climb the stairs.  

So we ate outside - right on the dock of the river. 

Sister Jennifer received this as a gift from her employer …  and she doesn't eat lobster1

It was the most spectacular evening (weather-wise) and in spite of the million trips up and down those crazy  stairs it was lots of fun.  Especially the fireworks at midnight and the especially the wedding guests  that came to the dock to watch the fireworks and especially those that eventually jumped in the river! 

This was the father of the bride!!

Cassia & Pablo left right after New Years and drove their "new" (second-hand) little car that was stuffed to the gills, over the nullabor back to Esperance (2.5 days).  Luckily the weather wasn't too hot and the winds were slight so it was a good trip.  

So they are settling into life back together again and with no visitors and no more parties, life for us, here on the dock is back to normal!

Beautiful Christmas gift to ourselves!

My Christmas gift from Joseph ...