Off we go!

...simon thinks he's coming with us. He tried to pack his own bag. Sorry bud, see ya in two weeks.

so...close...can't...stand it

Our long-awaited vacation is coming up and it is so close I can almost taste it.... J and I are headed to Vancouver, taking our time driving out, going to see J's bro and his family who we're very close with. They have 2 little boys, a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old (the 3-year-old is one of those amazing kids who was walking by 9 months, running at 9.5 months and riding a two-wheeler sans training wheels through the trails and doing tricks on his bike before the age of 3)
While we're going to see them, the focus is on us.... so, off we go on 'our' vacation. I love BC and miss living there, I can't wait to see the ocean. We don't have many plans but we'll go to Vancouver Pride, pay a visit to Davie St, travel through the Okanagan, do some wine tours, get some fresh fruit, take our time, stay in hotels and just have time for us.... The countdown begins...

Here's to the women....

J's mom is in town. The other night J pulled out a large blank canvas (our home is filled with home-made art) and she and her mom decided to create a monochromatic painting together. J chose green as the colour ('cause it was supposed to go in our kitchen which we are painting a great shade called 'goblin green'--love it!)
J and her mom got to work on the painting. Then my parents dropped by, which was momentous in itself (my dad lives overseas and I don't see him much). Then my mom joined in on the painting action, and I grabbed the last blank corner... et voila... a painting created by me, my wife and our mothers.

Slowwww down...

Eek it has been busy! The trip to Ontario was to get my sister and her three little ones (3, 5, 7) out here-- she was finally moving home and needed help driving a huge u-haul and her car, so my other sister and my dad and I were all out to help. The trip was great, very fast, and I have been trying to keep up all week but I'm exhausted. How can a road trip be so draining? I got back late afternoon on Sunday and should have taken Monday off! I did get lots of pictures of the gorgeous prairies though... for those of you who think it is boring landscape, get some glasses and take another look. More pics another night, time for this girl to crash.

you just can't make this stuff up...

Thanks to my brother who can always make me laugh with forwards:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fucking,_Austria


Are the residents called Fuckers?
What are the mothers called?
What would you be learning at the Fucking High School?
Does the Fucking Hospital help you with anything else?
If your friend came from another town, he wouldn't be your Fucking
friend.
There is a sign in the town that says 'Bitte! Nicht so schnell', which in English translates to 'Please! Not so fast!

Pride?

Part of me is disgusted with myself, and part of me is disappointed with society, and the rest of me is completely fed up with the L key on my laptop that all of a sudden is sticking ike, I mean, like, crazy.
So Saturday was pride in my little prairie town. We looked forward to it, planned for it, got up and walked downtown for it... oh, what a tiny little gathering there was. Next year we'll be joining Dawg's crew in Toronto. My first instinct was to bail, and the rest of me was thinking, well, someone has to march, right? The last time we went to pride was 5 years ago, and we thought that one was pretty small. We ended up walking in the parade by accident-- not only that but we ended up walking with the group carrying the banner 'Senior's Pride' and I walked next to a woman driving a scooter. I digress...
I guess I shouldn't have expected so much. Pride isn't advertised here, and if I want to go to a big parade I guess we should go to Toronto or Vancouver. I didn't manage to get the courage to join the parade, and J and A were happy not to join either. So we went to one of our favorite little pubs and had our own little pride celebration...
This is likely the one and only time that J will allow me to put a picture of her up on my blog. I am relishing the moment. Rel-ish-ing.

pssst... still gay...