The Summer Has Ended…Officially

Last week I started school.  I was a schmuck and packed my schoolbag and hauled that heavy, heavy thing into work.  When I stopped to change busses I saw a bunch of students collecting for Shine-orama (a fund raising activity for cystic fibrosis) and I thought “How can there be Shine-orama today if there is class today?”.  Sure enough, I checked the schedule and class didn’t start until Thursday, not Tuesday!  Argh.  Shine-orama equals end of summer.

With that news in hand, I did decide to go to Vero’s after work and finally pick up my bicycle.  It was a decent day to bike home but I lost steam around the Jeanne D’Arc area.  I don’t know if it was the fact that I hadn’t eaten enough to give me energy or if I just didn’t drink enough water.  Either way, it was a struggle for the last eight kilometers of the trek.

I turned around and headed back towards town as we were going over to Mike and Melissa’s house for dinner.  We met Melissa’s brother Tommy who is starting a culinary management course at Algonquin.  Is culinary management any different than being a chef?  Let me know!  He was an energetic chap and was fun to talk to.  Mike had prepared an amazing dish of rice and some beef concoction and we even got some cake!  It was nice to see the two of them and we enjoyed the time we had with them.  Eating over at friends place during the week equals end of summer (for me at least, being the student).

On Wednesday we got the grand idea to return to Minglewood’s for some wings and beer.  You can’t go wrong with a $10 pitcher of beer.  Mike’s wings tasted like fish so he didn’t care for them at all, but I can’t say mine tasted bad.  We then headed back home and watched a few episodes of Veronica Mars as Vero was starting a cold and just felt like lazing around.  Last weeks of wings on a patio equals end of the summer.

Thursday had me craving a burger from the Works so I called up Annie and she was thinking the exact same thing.  We waited until Eric got home, ordered take-out and headed to their place.  I had the Royal Supreme burger which was a decent burger but nothing special.  I like something with a little spice in it.

Friday I was excited to see Carrie and Katie (who was up for the weekend).  I packed the car for a trip to Toronto the next day and drove to Carrie’s where they had not arrived yet so I pulled out my guitar and had a beer on the back patio.  When Katie and Carrie arrived, they made an excellent supper and I got to see Holly’s mom who was up for the week.  The night was a combination of a little wine, a little Mario Kart and some laughable pictures being taken along the way.  Unfortunately I grabbed an air mattress which had a leak and ended up in an uncomfortable spot early into the night.  I had to move to the couch in the living room which is more like a love seat.  Mental note: Must buy Carrie a six foot long couch!

On Saturday, Vero and I headed out in the pouring rain to Toronto.  It cleared up an hour later and we munched on some excellent A&W in Kingston.  Vero was nice enough to drive the rest of the way and I slept that entire time.  I was quite in need of some nap-time.  We arrived in Ajax and picked up a few things (as well as a new air mattress) and had to drop into Aunt Dinah’s as I had forgot the directions for Dwayne and Wendy’s place.  Luckily, Vero had been watching Veronica Mars for the past few months so her detective skills found a spare key outside the house.  Funnily enough, we found out that Aunt Dinah had placed this key outside on that day only for Aunt Val!  We were quite lucky!

We headed over to Dwayne’s and the skies parted and the sun shone through.  Rick, John and I hit the pool for awhile which was divine.  Funny story about John…probably not too funny to him…but I had completely forgotten about meeting him before at Winterlude a few years back.  So I introduced myself and he thought I was simply joking.  However, if you know me, you know I have an awful memory and you have to explain where I met you before.  Once I realized I had some beers with him at Darcy McGee’s, it all came flooding back at me.

The food was excellent and there was a cake celebrating Aunt Dinah’s and Uncle Richard’s 40th anniversary.  Sully had a lovely poem written commemorating the event and everyone was having a great time.  Troy and I hauled the guitars down into the basement for awhile until we were asked to play outside which was great.  We then retired to the basement to play some more and after my fingers started to bleed, it was time to take a break.  Sully, Troy and I stayed up for awhile longer and then hit the sack (oddly enough, I was in Paige’s room sleeping in a Hanna Montana bed.  Hanna Montana, you make a comfy comforter.)

The next morning I definitely didn’t have enough sleep but figured we should head over to Aunt Dinah’s for some breakfast.  After breakfast Vero and I hit the road again and played our great tag team game of “I drive half the way, you drive the other.”  In the end of the day, I retired to my couch and read comic books for the rest of the night.  Pool parties in Ajax are a sign that the summer is ending.

Now I get to look forward to my two new classes – Pop Culture and Multimedia I (which I heard deals with learning how to work inside Flash and Photoshop.  Considering I’ve dabbled in both, I’m excited for what looks to be an easy semester!).  The end of summer indeed.