Joyeuses Paques

On Thursday night, Vero, Mike and I hit the open road for the drive up North. Scratch that…it was not an open road at first. It was jam packed with rush hour traffic getting out of Ottawa. It was horrible. I don’t think we made it out of Ottawa until an hour later. Then we encountered not one, but two bridges being worked on near Renfrew. After Deep River it was smooth sailing but we ended up rolling into town around 3AM. Way too late for us folks.

The next morning I arose, had some lunch and said goodbye to Vero who was heading out to Hearst to prepare for her sister’s baby shower. I took the afternoon to compile some study notes for my upcoming Macroeconomics exam and chat with the folks. Maureen and John came over later for some supper and John showed us a great RC simulator game (although I didn’t have the coordination to get the thing flying too much!) and afterward, I headed over to Maureen and John’s place for a few beer. I had grand plans to get the old gang of us together but it was hinging on a bunch of elements…in the end, Mike was toast after drinking all day with his family, I never heard from Dana, and I never heard from Eric and Annie but that’s definitely to be expected as they have tons of family to visit with the kids and all. Either way, I had fun at Maureen’s place and we ended up watching Empire Strikes Back (which Vero has admitted to wanting to watch!).

The next morning I continued my study notes and then headed over to Mike’s for a quick beer and a visit before heading to Hearst for the evening. When I arrived there were a ton of people showing up for the baby shower. The men took their place inside the kitchen while the ladies propagated to the solarium where hilarity ensued. I showed the men the trick with a coat hanger and how it can detect energy fields in each other. Here‘s information on that for those who want to learn more. Anne-Marie definitely looks pregnant these days and it’s quite exciting to think that a baby is coming to the family in a few months time!

The next morning we went to an amazing brunch (the chicken pot pie…yum!) and then we had to hightail it back to Moonbeam to get to William’s baptism. This will have been the last time I have entered this church in Moonbeam considering I don’t think I know anyone else that will choose to get married or have their children baptized there. Even though I pride myself on the amount of French I can speak/understand, I must admit that in a religious context, some words are a mystery to me so I usually just follow along with the sound of what people are saying.

Nothing too exciting happened at the shower like demons rising up or witches coming to steal the baby, although Vero and I spied a vat of holy water there just in case. Burn the Witches! Afterward we headed over to Annie’s sister’s place and had a drink and chatted with Eric’s parents for a bit before heading outside to push Dana’s car out of the snowbank. Did I mention that it had snowed back home for the past three days? Ridiculous! I had packed away my winter boots and had to bring them up North! We then headed to the Konopelky’s for a quick drink and then I dropped Mike off at home where he proceeded to make a spectacular leap over a big puddle but ended up slipping into it and soaking his good pants! Vero and I visited for a bit where we checked out Mike’s Dad’s new toy…a beer fridge where you press a button and it ejects a beer for you at the bottom. Brilliant! I had a good laugh when Carol came in the day before and let us know that she received the same thing for her birthday and Danny was really excited that they were taking this home with them and Carol said something to the effect of “It’s MY birthday gift.” I couldn’t help pointing out the fact that she should know the point of sharing considering she teaches it to her daycare kids all the time! Har har.

We had a great ham dinner for supper and then Maureen started hauling out some old videocassettes and we stumbled upon some old home movies that none of us knew existed; namely Mom and Dad’s 25th Anniversary video from the first year they had the cottage, as well as some old Super 8 video footage from 1975 onwards. That was quite funny to watch as it’s funny to see your parents and their friends so young. It also gave me some great ideas about using the footage to make a video for our song ‘705’. I have been explaining to Vero that I want us to make a video which would be a typical Northern Ontario roadtrip….but have the visuals look like the washed out, yellowish Super 8 films of yesteryear. Now, with this footage, we think we can perhaps incorporate it somehow and make it all the more personal considering Troy and myself show up in the footage at various points. We’ll see what we can do.

The next morning we headed back along with Danny and Carol leading the pack until North Bay where we ate at the mall and then said our goodbyes. It was hell once again getting through the bridges in Renfrew and we didn’t end up home until after six. Sometimes I wonder why I don’t live in North Bay!

A great Easter weekend and it was nice to see the family. I’m sure everyone had a great Easter weekend as well. Here’s two jokes that I heard during the weekend, one from my father and one from Mr. Townson.

Q: How can you tell if the chocolate Easter bunny you have is female?
A: The female ones have the hollow head.

Three Newfies die in a car accident and head up to the pearly gates only to find that Saint Peter is locking up for the long weekend. Not wanting to hang out until the weekend was over, Saint Peter asks that they each tell him a religious holiday.

Newfie 1: Thanksgiving.
Saint Peter: Why is that significant?
Newfie 1: Because we give thanks to our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Saint Peter: Very well, you may enter.

Newfie 2: Christmas.
Saint Peter: Why is that significant?
Newfie 2: Because that’s when we celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Saint Peter: Very well, you may enter.

Newfie 3: Easter.
Saint Peter: Why is that significant?
Newfie 3: Well, first there is the Last Supper.
Saint Peter: Yes, and what else?
Newfie 3: Then the Lord is crucified on the cross.
Saint Peter: Yes, go on.
Newfie 3: Then his body is buried in a big cave with a boulder pushed in front of it.
Saint Peter: Yes, yes!
Newfie 3: Then later on in the weekend they discover the boulder has been pushed aside.
Saint Peter: Yes, and then what happens?
Newfie 3: Jesus comes out of the cave, sees his shadow and returns for six weeks.

Hope everyone had a great Easter weekend!

iplaying: Sick Muse (Metric – Fantasies)