15 Kids, 2 Cop Cars and a Good Time

Francois and Regine know how to have a rocking good time!

Just as we were saying goodnight and leaving their party tonight, two cop cars pulled up and wanted to speak to the home owners about a noise complaint.

What you need to know is that:

• It was only 10pm 
• It was a birthday party for Edouard
• Edouard recently turned 10! 

Yes, yes, it was a kids birthday party! I told you Francois and Regine know how to throw a party!

The party was so tame that when the female police officer came to the door, Isabelle (my sister-in-law) asked the officer which of the children were hers! Too funny! (This piece of information is second hand and cannot be confirmed at the time of press. However, the source was Michel and I find him to be very trustworthy).

I think the neighbors that called the police should be embarrassed cause I think there were all of 15 kids at the party and 6-8 adults.  The only thing loud about this party was some of the music but it had been turned down as everyone was leaving.

Thanks to Regine and Francois for the great time! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gay Pride a la Montreal

Last weekend, on our way home from Jac`s, we got lost in downtown Montreal and got caught in a huge traffic jam.  So, we pulled over and decided to go for a walk to St. Catherine`s Street to kill time. 

The traffic jam was due to Montreal`s Gay Pride parade.  We had a great time watching most of it so we thought we would share some of the pictures with you.

It`s the teletubbies all grown up!

The purple teletubbie was always my favorite.

Who knew - a gay voyager on roller blades and yes, he was actually playing that banjo!

Pride Colors

I think this is my favorite pic of the parade.

OK, he is gay but there is something about a man in leather!

This country dancing group danced during the entire parade!

What is a Pride Parade without a Queen!

Last Weekend at Jac`s

Ma cousinne, Jacquelynne, est le belle force de la nature.  When she is excited about something, she is a whirlwind to watch and incredibly funny.  We got to spend an evening with her and her beau, Antoine, last weekend.

Now, I have to tell you that we met Antoine in September and the meeting did not go well.  I am afraid I was a bit of a bitch to Antoine and rode him hard about checking his blackberry during dinner (my workmates will know how much I hate people playing with their blackberry during a conversation – right, Benedikt!)

 

Well, I have to say that while first impressions are important, there is something to be said for second impressions. Everyone has off days and both Antoine and I must have been having off days our first meeting. 

 

We had a fantastic time with Jac and Antoine and we hope that we can see them again.  We just spent the night talking and relaxing.

 

We also got to spend some time with Grayson (Jac’s son who is 6).  He is a great kid and I think he had a good time teaching Michel how to play a video game (sorry, can’t remember the name of it) the next morning.

The Source

Today, we were walking around downtown Montreal and came across this magnificent sight.

For anyone that doesn't know..................we and many of our friends in Calgary (who also don't have television and like CBC) refer to CBC Radio as the source of all our knowledge and entertainment (aka - The Source).

Without even knowing it, we made a pilgrimage.  Unfortunately, due to our lack of preparedness, we were unable to make a sacrifical offering.  We hope our fellow believers in The Source will forgive us.

Back on Canadian Soil

Our last day in Maine saw it rain for more than 24 hours straight. Sometimes torrential downpour, sometimes a fine mist.  It took our tent to it’s maximum saturation point.  By the time we woke up on Monday, there were a few minor drops coming from the roof.  Fear not though as neither of us are related to the Wicked Witch of the West and we already have an action plan to implement.

Monday saw us drive back to Canada.  It felt good to be on home soil again but it did not feel like home per se.  I think I have hit the first wall of being on the road.  I am tired of living out of a bag constantly  (I haven’t unpacked my bag in its entirety since leaving Calgary). However, since it is bleeding red onto some of my clothes, I will need to unpack it so I can give it a good wash.

We hit Granby about 7pm on Monday and were kidnapped by Philip and Michelle (Michel’s brother and sister in-law).  We had a lovely evening with them and Greg (Marie-Helene’s significant other).  Much wine flowed and so we spent the night.

On Tuesday, we made our way to Zita and Tony’s house.  It took several tries (no GPS and instructions we had trouble following) but we finally made it there about 3pm.  Home Sweet Home until September 5th when we head for Haiti.

On Wednesday, we got to have dinner with Mona and the kids with the added bonus of Manushka and her kids being there as well.  Manushka and her family live in LA and she is here visiting the "Family".

The Demise of Bob and Fred

To qualify as a serial killer, how many murders must one commit? Are you a serial killer if you don’t actually do the killing yourself but commit horrible atrocities to the bodies? 

These are some lovely friends that I made this weekend.  Meet Bob and Fred.  You can see how close Bob and I became in just a short time.  He had a very lovely personality and was an intelligent, giving guy.

Bob and I having an amorous moment!



Fred was very relaxed until the end.



I don’t have the heart to show you the remnants of Bob and Fred. I will never be able to forgive myself. However, in Fred’s final moments, he screamed “I forgive you Heather!” so, I may not harbour as much guilt about Fred as I do about Bob.

In my defence (should I ever be found out and arrested for this atrosity),
I believe I was possessed by the evil, demented banana that Michel won from me at the carnival.  Look at how it changed me from my usual mild mannered traveller into an evil, angry serial killer.

Return of the Schmellow God

After an absence of many years, the Schmellow God (sorry, only Rob and Doug will get this reference) has decided to bless us with many visits.

One night, a couple of weeks ago, Michel and I had just finished talking to each other on Skype. Michel always went to the rec room at the campground (imagine a converted double garage with workout equipment, a games table and a desk) to work on the computer as the wireless internet connection was strongest there.  Michel was contemplating shutting down the computer for the night when he felt something soft brush against his leg.  Upon looking down, what did Michel see but a lovely little skunk!  The small fellow felt the need to hang with Michel (he is a great guy after all) for several minutes.  Michel thought it might be best to let his new friend get a substantial head start on his way home before Michel headed for his own home.

In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Michel and I awoke to the sounds of garbage being ripped apart.  We were not concerned as all it takes is someone forgetting to put their food away to attract racoons.  A little while later, I realized that I had left the “veranda door” open (aka: the fly to our tent was wide open on my side) as the perpetrator of the garbage fete was busy checking out my veranda.  I could tell because it was walking on the tarp that goes under our tent and serves as a veranda floor on both sides of the tent.  I was now tired of being woken up more than once so I hit the tent from the inside thinking that this would scare the culprit away.  Oh, he was a pro and not so easily scared.  Finally, I had to sit up to get it to run off.  But it only went back to having a party with the neighbor’s garbage.  By this time, Michel had lost his patience so he got out of the tent and whipped both his shoes at the beasty.  Turns out that once again it was a skunk.  Oh, so many opportunities to be sprayed and yet we were incredibly lucky.

We are happy to be writing to you stink free!

Farmington Comes to an End

It is just mere hours until my first help exchange will be over.  It has been a great experience for the most part and I am looking forward to my next one (just need to plan it first).


Susun was pretty lax with us this week and not the usual slave driver that she is (tee hee tee hee).


Blueberry Picking
We got to go blueberry picking yesterday.  It only took 5 of us about 45 minutes to pick almost 30lbs of blueberries. They are scrumtilitious.

(Susun, me and Matt)

Karen was cute because she was so interested in the concept of blueberry picking that she spent most of her time taking pictures.  Susun was the power picker of the bunch so she took over Karen's bucket.

 

(Karen didn't like the original picture I posted so this is the new one!)

Ada is absolutely terrified of caterpillars and so was very nervous about the adventure.  At one point, she started freaking out because she had stepped on something and it was squishy.  She was jumping up and down and lost one of her flip flops too boot.  It turned out the culprit was an errant blueberry.  This made her feel much better!

(One of Ada's happier moments in the blueberry patch)

And because I like to be the class clown:

Norlands
On Tuesday, Susun took us to the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center (http://www.norlands.org/).

     "Today, Norlands is a multifaceted museum offering in-depth experiences in 18th and 19th century rural life. Here, the visitor is an active participant in daily and seasonal farming and housework, and becomes involved in the social, political and educational activities of the times."

We had a great time in the school as the volunteer had developed a school teacher character based on her great aunt.  She proceeded to tell us about how she got hired and what the typical school day was like, how she would punish us if we were not good, etc.  Then she gave us a lesson in reading and mathematics - I rocked the math questions.  My Mama didn't raise no fool you know!

A Gift of Love to My Brother

This is kinda old news to many in my family but my brother turned 50 last September.  I had planned a big surprise for him but circumstances changed and it took months to reschedule it.

It also required the active involvement of several people at his work and they even took pictures and videos.

When I was in Winnipeg, I finally got the videos and MUST share the best one with everyone.