day eighteen

saturday

breakfast was followed closely by lunch. breakfast was bacon and eggs. grand. lunch was provided by grandpa fergy brown, who has in his 83 years been a pilot, a pharmacist, city councillor, and the mayor. he took us to katz's deli, which served us sandwiches of the highest meat:bread ratio i've ever seen.


after spending the majority of the day consuming food, we thought the wisest plan would be to hurl ourselves down hills. ramlin scraped her leg. becca remembered how much fun pain can be. toby got a car wheel in the back, and i attempted to give myself concussion.









after recuperating somewhat, and waiting longer than strictly necessary for the girls to get ready, we failed miserably to meet the boys, walked for a long time, were passed by some crazy cyclists, and found our way to the green room. here, we were seated by a lovely chinese lady, and served some quantities of beer by a man named esteban, who didn't like us very much. we played a rather silly game, made some even sillier toasts, ramlin smashed a glass, becca tried to stop us feeding ramlin more beer, toby nearly hit a stranger, ramlin was mistaken for a celebrity, but got a business card, james consistently ordered more beer than we could drink, made evil faces in every photo, then insisted on paying for a cab home. we ate falafel, and toby made inappropriate comments. it was an awesome night. imagine some beautiful music playing, 'cause here comes the montage.




















































































timmy's had an interesting sign on the washroom door...

day seventeen

friday

we got up. jesse drove us to yorkdale in his new favourite toy. we hung out at the mall. seems that's what all the cool kids are doing these days. becca was working really hard at sears, selling hips. we shuffled cards and left her.




we had 20 minutes of our lives stolen by the evil knife lady.




we passed the dead baby store.



more snow devices were purchased; there's toboganing to be done, and we've broken all of our other toys.









toby did some dishes...looking good.








over the road, where judy cooked up a storm for toby, james, mr + mrs h (senior), mr + mrs v, becca and myself. much fun was had. mr + mrs h were somewhat delayed; jesse claimed they were 'fooling around'.


we went to see bridge to terabithia; not bad for a kids film - recommended for the under twelves and linda. we taught becca to walk.

day sixteen

thursday
ontario was hit by a winter storm from colorado, so everything kinda went to pot. thanks j. we were due to return the hired stuff from the wedding; it took us 2 hours just to get downtown. on the way, a car had parked in the snow, blocking a streetcar, so we were enlisted to bump the car in the snow until the streetcar could pass.



after completing our task, the day was over - it took 8 hours of driving to travel from home, downtown, and back again. fun and games. toby and i shovelled the drive; we made a snow mountain...

day fifteen

orange wednesday


the boys: we started the day with breakfast at steve's (not mr. vangou's).









we ran a few errands; collecting cars and cakes, travelling at unsafe speeds in al's rental, eating more food, drinking more coffee...we made our way to the church.









disclaimer: if you're looking for proper wedding photos, tough. mel (mark and beth's photographer) took lots of awesome shots that are all going to be on the net in a few days. also, enough people were bugging them for poses that i thought i'd keep a little distance. when mel's shots come up, i'll let you know.











the service was pretty special. laughs, tears, emotions were running high for everyone. pete reminded me that it's always better later.







service over, some excellent food was consumed in large quantities by us all. maija fought with pasta.









jesse let rip with an unscripted father of the bride masterpiece; james stepped up and served us with a grand speech.











mark displayed his skills of a dancer with the new mrs h.













a rather special carrot cake was sliced.







al ventura, man of action...looks sharp, doesn't it he...




with the newlyweds snowballed and sent on their way, we cleared a little (mr and mrs h and v cleared lots) then found a bar...


job done. sorry it's brief, time is limited.

day fourteen

tuesday


bethany not too well today, so all plans changed. pete and i battled, then took a ride to pick up plates, tablecloths and champagne flutes, met a young looking older guy from nw10 in the years of ted heath who didn't like the weather. we took our shipment downtown to the church, where a crazy amount of percussion instruments were being set up for a concert this evening. on our rather slick route home, we pulled alongside what appeared to be a dog-bear crossbreed.

that evening, with markandbethany feeling much better, we ate sushi, which was excellent, and which i had forgotten to pay for. brilliant. j accepted a dare, and ate the end of a lemon covered in fish eggs.




in place of the skating on ice, we ate the ice cream at caffé demetré, home of the worst graphic design ever, but some excellent desserts. we were joined by none other than steve darke, of legendary band club fame. ramlin, who continues to put herself in front of the lens far too often, ate this strawberry masterpiece.











pete was made a happy man.

















a few of us made our way to yorkdale to hit moxies, where we were rude (in an obvious but completely unnoticed fashion) but tipped this time.

it's now orange wednesday. this means a few things. the wedding happens today. then markandbethany disappear for some time. my computer access will become somewhat erratic. i'll do my best, oh loving fans.

day thirteen

monday


nothing happened today. the boys and i hung out this morning, til mark came home from champagne shopping, james and i jumped to and tidied up a little. j played lots of video games. no children this time.



the snow had continued. james and j hit the mall to be exfoliated and shop for stuff, while toby and i went for a walk in the snow, putting the world to rights whilst sitting on swings. the leafs lost at the hockey, something that is becoming all too regular a feature, then i spray painted some baskets. jesse showed me albert's car, a 1975 camaro which looks pretty sweet.


















j, toby and i made our way to the village idiot pub, where we drank bad beer and told equally bad jokes. we didn't tip, and left to ride the rocket home. i got us lost coming out of the subway, and bethany has caused mayhem with the sleeping arrangements. disgraceful.


tomorrow, we skate in nathan philips square. coolio. i'm off to lie on an uncomfortable tiled floor.

day twelve

sunday


rehearsal day.




we rose this morning. little worse for wear. h₂o fixed me up a treat, and we went downtown to get out of markandbethany's hair. i was grumpy, so read more of my rather good book (thanks miss p). we drank too much coffee. j didn't get ripped off by a small lady, he got screwed by the us dollar.










we passed bethany's school en route to the church for the charade rehearsal.
















the clouds were pretty low today; snow weather.












we rehearsed some; we got most of it right. bethany claimed it would be ok as most people wouldn't notice our mistakes. j got in trouble for playing video games with a small child. maija asked how i would be styling my hair for the wedding; i think she may be a little disappointed to be walking the aisle with me. brett was excited about a bar he had found serving three of man's most basic needs.











we made our way over to bethany's grandparents for a celebration dinner. billions of people were there. bethany almost let the secret out. it snowed, beautifully, really light and blustery. it's due to fall for about 24 hours. i made a funny about cake and death, and we laughed at obituaries.





driving somewhat precauriously in the rear wheel drive sliding machine, we made it home. i shovelled the snow again. simple things. becca remarked that english people were sarcastic. she had obviously learned the lesson from day four.






ramlin and bethany did some authentic ethnic dancing.



james worked the magic in his awesome headgear.


















j stole the show with his smirnoff ice inspired movements.












albert cracked out the snes: the north american edition looks even more retro. ramlin applied her wealth of knowledge to the connection of entertainment devices, before kickin everyones ass at mario.



that's all really. tomorrow is the calm before the orange wednesday.

day eleven

saturday

edit: just read my blog. gonna add a few things, as most of what i wrote last night makes no sense at all. last night's text remains in this colour.
wrecked.



when in rome, your mom.orange wednesdays.
went to niagara earlier. here's some pictures.





sun in the sky, you know how i feel








niagara was stunning. again. it was incredibly bright, the ice reflected everything. the mist from the falls freezes onto anything it touches.









the falls are split by an island, creating an american falls, and a canadian falls - new york state is the other side of the river. the american falls are piddly.



toby presents crap and good falls





my j-shaped travel buddy












when in rome



warning re:door operation.