Birthday Girl!

Two weekends ago, Brian and I drove out to Bowmanville to the East Side Mario's to surprise Marya (along with Mom and Dave & Lisa) for her 30th birthday! It was a delicious lunch and a fun time together! Afterwards we went back to Mar's place for some Wii and some cake - good times! The Wii Fit has some very fun activities on it, but I don't excell at many of them. I was even beaten by Evan at one of the activities! It was too bad that Steve & Sarah & the kids and David couldn't come to the party, but I'm very excited that when we celebrate family Christmas in February, everyone will be around (including the newest little Van Breda)!!

2 Years Old Already?

While I was busy with Brian's mom's 60th birthday celebrations, I completely missed my 2nd youngest nephew's birthday (October 18th)! This little guy, Eli Jacobus Van Breda, is 2 years old now! Time flies!!

Parties, Traffic, and Accidental Encounters

Happy 60th to my dear mom-in-law today!!

This weekend seems to have been a success - both parties went over well and people seemed happy and well fed, and I don't think that we poisoned any of them, so that's always a plus. :)

My squash soup was quite a hit and I had to share my "recipe" with many people. The trifle also went over well, as did the boterkoek, brownies, and chewy-chocolate fudge squares. I met lots of people, got reacquainted with the members of the Tjoelker clan, and had some interesting conversations with some guests at the open house. (Him: "So you must be David's girlfriend!" Me: "No, actually, I'm Brian's wife." Thinking: who is David?! Him: Blank Stare. Him: "So... You got married recently?" Me: "Yeah, I suppose that 3 years isn't very long - 2006 seems like yesterday!" Him: "Oh." Awkward Silence. Me: Thinking: Does he actually know Trudy or her family? Is he at the right party?! )

I am fairly tired of socializing at the moment. I have no more small talk left in me. I'm tired of smililng, and saying, "No, actually, I'm not Shanna, I'm Jenn - I'm Brian's wife. No, Brian's actually the oldest child," and "No, Jared and I aren't married - I'm married to Brian, Trudy's oldest son, and Jared is married to Shanna, Trudy's daughter," and "No, it's actually Shanna and Jared that live in BC, Brian and I live in Hamilton," and "That's actually my dog - yes, she's part miniature schnauzer, and part something else - rabbit? Donkey?...." These are the conversations that I had all weekend. :)

On the way home from Sarnia last night, I ran into some traffic. Brian and I drove separately this weekend so that I could leave a little bit earlier on Sunday afternoon so that I'd be able to make it to my book club meeting. I should have been back in Hamilton by 7:15 at the latest - but that was before I knew about the lane closures in Ingersoll. 3 lanes down to 1 lane. It took me over an hour to travel about 6 km. Stop and go is not fun when driving a standard, in case you weren't aware. My clutching leg was in tremmors by the time I made it through. I tried my hardest to coast in neutral as much as possible, in order to avoid the partial clutching in 1st gear (traffic was going fast enough that I couldn't coast, but slow enough that I would have stalled if I was completely in 1st gear), but the van in front kept tapping the breaks, requiring me to break my coasting. By the time I got through the traffic, I was very hungry so I pulled into the next rest stop and stood in line at Wendy's (big mistake - the speed of service province-wide has gone dramatically down hill in the last 3 years!) - someone taps me on the shoulder after a few minutes, and who is it but Jared and Shanna, who left Sarnia shortly after I did! So, I got to sit down and eat supper with them! Nice surprise! However, I did end up missing my book club - I didn't get home until 9:20. Boo.

Happenings

Since I last posted, I have been to Texas and back, I have listened to 1.5 audio books and have read 5 novels, watched 3 movies, baked 5 pans of squares, made soup for the people in my office and for Brian's Aunts and Uncles, I have gone to a wedding, to Canada's Wonderland, and to Sarnia for a turkey dinner. I have gone to my first two pilates classes and have babysat JP. I have had my 3rd anniversary, had my mom, my sister-in-law and her husband sleep in my livingroom in one night, and I have gone to Stratford to see The Importance of Being Ernest with Brian's family.

Tonight, we head off to Sarnia and tomorrow morning we'll be having vanOosten family pictures taken. Tomorrow afternoon, we'll be in Strathroy to host (along with the other vanOosten kids) a dinner for the Tjoelker siblings for my mom-in-law's 60th birthday, and on Sunday afternoon in Sarnia there will be an open house for her as well. Then, back to Hamilton for my 2nd book club event of the year.

My computer is in the shop right now, other wise I'd be posting pictures of the events that have already passed by.

I am so very much looking forward to the weekend of November 7th - it will be the first weekend since June 6th that we have not been booked to go away either for the whole weekend or just for the day. Agenda: 1) sleep in; 2) clean the house.

Neither Packed Nor Ready to Go

This evening at 7pm, I will be leaving with Amy and Linda, two colleagues from work, for a conference in Texas.  While it's exciting to head out to Texas, as I've never been there before, I can't believe how much I have to get done before then.  1) Hit the Terrberry Library to take out some easy reading for the plane (apparently SouthWest doesn't provide seat back television).  2) Clean out my car so that Joel and Katrina (who will be  using it for the next 4 days) don't have to cart around the box of random stuff that I keep forgetting to bring to our storage place (aka the Speelman basement)...  I also haven't given the car a good cleaning in about a year.  3) Finish the laundry so that I'll have some warm weather clothes to wear in Texas (it's supposed to be between 29 and 33 degrees all week). 4) Make & eat supper.  5) Pack all my stuff.  6) Remember to bring my passport. 

Eesh.  It's going to be a long day.

Happy Birthday!

Dear Samantha: Happy Birthday! It is now 46 minutes until your birthday starts, and this will mark your second birthday on the East Coast. I hope that it is a fantastic one for you! I was just looking at our Newfoundland pics when looking for a picture to post here, and they made me want to go back and do it all over again! You guys are such awesome people, and Brian and I are so honoured to have you as friends!

May you have the happiest of birthdays, and I'm sorry I didn't put a card in the mail for you, I haven't been so good with posting things for a few years now. You are an amazing woman, and you are well loved!!

Fall Has Arrived

It is a very blustery day today, and I love it. I would love it more if I wasn't sitting in my office all day, as the darkness outside makes the day inside go by much more slowly... It's a perfect kind of day to throw on a hoodie and take the dog for a walk outside, or to hunker down inside over a good board game. It's a good day to make soup and applesauce, or to have a roast cooking in the slow cooker. I look forward to my afternoon (after work) and evening at home today. It's a good day to stay home.