Edmonton? Where's that?

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks and I've spent so much time away from home I'm wondering if Edmonton is the place I live, or the place I just store my stuff.

October 22 Eric and I flew back to Vancouver for Ed and Momoe's wedding. Eric had to study most of the week-end but we managed a trip to the Bourbon for a few too many beers on Friday, and a few more at the wedding on Saturday. It was so nice to see everyone again! I know it's only been a few months but it feels like a lot longer.

Friday, I met Liser and Allison at their work and we went for a few drinks at the Keg before heading to the Bourbon. It was so great to see them. The Bourbon got interesting when some bitchy girl plunked herself down at out table and wouldn't leave. The owner kicked her out and she had the nerve to hit him. Same old Bourbon :). The next day my neck hurt from dancing like an idiot with Erik (imitating some crazy dancer) but it was worth it.

The Wedding on Saturday was a lot of fun too. We got to see all the people who didn't make the Bourbon the night before. The food and company were great, and I was so glad we were able to make it.

Unfortunately the trip was only 3 days and flew by way too fast. I was sad to go home on Sunday, but I was glad we got a chance to see everyone for breakfast on Sunday before we left.

I guess the week-end took it's toll though. When I got home I got quite sick and spent most of the week in bed. I was supposed to go down to Calgary for Halloween week-end, but I was feeling so crummy I just stayed in bed.

Just as I was finally starting to feel better, Andrea and I flew to Ottawa for our friend Cathy's wedding (She and her husband actually eloped to Italy and this was just the wedding reception.) We've known Cathy since we were 3 so we were pretty excited, especially since it was the first time Andrea and I have been back to Ottawa together since we moved out to BC ten years ago. So Wednesday (Nov 4th) I flew down to Calgary and Andrea and I flew to Ottawa together.

The next day Jen (one of our best friend's from high school who we were staying with), Andrea and I, visited our mom and brought her flowers, then toured our old neighborhood, and our old high school. We were just going to walk by the scool but in the end actually walked through it. It was a very bizarre feeling. It seemed so long ago, and yet almost like yesterday that we'd been going to school there. None of our old teachers worked there anymore and the school had changed quite a bit, and it looked so small to what we remembered.

That night we took Cathy out on a belated stagette. We took her to a restaurant for dinner in little Italy. We dressed her in a white and red apron, a green boa, and a red wig, and the rest of us wore wigs and boas in red & green. Then we took her on an hour and a half limo bus ride. It had couches and a bar and we sipped drinks from penis straws and ate penis shaped chocolates. After the limo ride we went to a bar called "The Whiskey" it was supposed to be a big "Maxim Coors" party but being Thursday night it was super dead. We had fun anyways and made Cat sell the last of the penis shaped chocolates.

Friday we all went out for lunch and looked at Cat & Tyler's Wedding photos from Italy (amazing photos) and then Jen, Andrea, Mark (he arrived in Ottawa while we were at the stagette), Heather and I went to the Food and Wine Show. We tasted a lot of wine, sampled a lot of food, and ran into a lot of people from our high school. It was all people we didn't think we would ever see again so it felt sort of like a mini high school reunion and we had the chance to catch up on a bit of gossip.

Saturday was the wedding and we finally got to see our high school group all together again. It wasn't like I expected though. Andrea, Rachel, and I haven't lived there in many years and it was the first time the whole group was together again....Only Rach, Andrea and I were no longer a part of it. It was a bit disappointing actually, I had been so looking forward to seeing them all again, and instead they all hung out together, and the three of us hung out together. Even Mark (who can talk to anyone and have a good time) had a hard time striking up conversation with them.

On the other hand I got to see all my old neighbour's, and see their kids (that I used to babysit) all grown up and married. Growing up, all the kids in the neighborhood used to play in the field across from my house, and they were all there so we laughed our asses off at all the dumb things we used to do. That completely made up for the dissappointment of being excluded form "the group".

Sunday Andrea, Mark and I were supposed to fly home together but with Eric so busy with school, and me not having a job to tie me down, Jen asked me to stay until next week-end to help celebrate her birthday and I decided to extend my trip.

Jen works evenings so it worked out really well, I hung out with her during the day, and then met up with whoever was free in the evenings. We went shopping at Rideau Centre, went to the big craft fair at the congress centre, went to see "Alfie" and "Bridget Jone's Diary", we wandered around the market, watched all the "Lost" episodes that Jen had taped, burned cheesy 80's CD's, had a "crafternoon" with Cathy (we made Christmas ornaments and laughed about high school) and went to Kingston for the day.

The trip to Kingston was so much fun, We shopped and had dinner with Jen's two cousins. I haven't laughed like that in a really long time (I laughed until tears were pouring down my face and my stomach hurt so much I couldn't breathe)

My last day in Ottawa we went out for for sushi for Jen's birthday. She invited her university friends, and I invited "the group". It was different from the wedding, I actually got a chance to sit down and talk to them and we had a really great time. I wa sad when I had to say good-bye to them all. After dinner, Jen and I and the "university crew" went to the lower deck to drink and dance the rest of the night away. We had soooo much fun. I miss partying with Jen. We got home at 4:00am and had to be up at 6:00am to catch my 8:00am flight (I had to take the early flight get the seat sale, going later would have been an extra $200).

9 hours later, tired, cranky, and hungry, Eric picked me up from the Varscona hotel and I went straight home to bed. I slept for the rest of the day, then got up, had dinner, watched a movie, and went back to bed. Traveling on 2 hours of sleep with a hangover is something I never want to do again!!!

As much fun as I had it's good to be home. I missed Eric, the pigs, and my bed. I'm looking forward to Jen's visit in December though!