Cathy's in Florida and Pat's Flaunting his Frenchness
Hi everyone, we hope all is well in your neck of the woods! This week's post will be split in 2, as we will both update you on our week, since we were in 2 different countries and at opposite ends!!
Riley and my bachelor week didn't start off too well. We were back at the vet's office for some more exams for Riley. We've added a second drug to help his health. We are awaiting more tests and the possibility of a 3rd pill to help offset a few side effects he's been feeling the past few weeks. The poor guy must be wondering what we're doing to him. Let's hope he gets better soon and gets to enjoy the summer with us at Ultimate and for camping trips!
As mentioned last week, I was volunteering this weekend at the Festival du bois, where the theme was Flaunt your Frenchness! I had a blast doing it. It was great to be surrounded by such an enthusiastic crowd and be able to immerse myself again in all things french. It definitely brought back many memories and reinforced how proud I am of my culture and all that my parents, family and friends have taught me over the years. I truly am lucky.
I worked in the Kids Tent both days and did odd jobs pretty much all weekend, from helping set up some of the audio equipment, to greeting the entertainers, to sweeping the stage, to making sure the entertainers lounge had food, drinks and heat, to being the running joke for the clown's performance, to greeting the crowd, anything and everything. I had the chance to see some great performances in the Kids Tent. They had alot of folklore acts, an African troupe, a very funny clown and some traditional Métis dancers. I also took the opportunity to walk around and see some of the other acts in the main tent, but let's be honest, I walked around to get some of that great home cookin'!!! Being a volunteer, most of what I ate was free, and boy did I take advantage of that! I ate about 5 helpings of Tire-sur-la-neige, 3 poutines, 1 sugar pie, a traditional breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon) and some cotton candy. I love volunteering!! Have a look at the sweet hat I got!!
Besides that, it was a pretty quiet week. we are already starting to talk about plans for the summer for Ultimate. Nationals are in Halifax this year, which would be a great experience, but might be a little too pricey coming from Vancouver. Not sure who Cathy and I plan on playing with. Many options are open for us, and over the next few weeks, we'll have a better idea.
We have been invited to our very first traditional Indian wedding. Our friends Surinder and Raman are getting married on March 18th in a traditional Indian ceremony. The festivities start at 10am and last well into the night. We can't wait to experience this first hand.
MY TURN: My week started off by going to physio for my neck. It turns out that I have some more serious injuries than originally thought. The physiotherapist ran a number of tests and determined that I have ligament damage on the right side of my neck which has caused a number of other problems with my spine alignment, neurological weakness, etc. I don't really know what that all means, but I will be attending physio for the next couple of weeks and the therapist expects everything to be cleared up with no lingering problems. So that was the not-so-great news of my week...but things definitely got better from there...
On Tuesday I left for my conference. I drove down to Seattle with a couple of classmates and on Wednesday we flew to Tampa. It was definitely stressful the few days before leaving, lots of long nights working with only a couple of hours of sleep to rejuvinate, but it all worked out in the end. We landed in Tampa late on Wednesday after a long day of travelling so that night we all just decided to relax and actually get a good night of sleep. It was a good thing too because after that night there was very little sleep. The days were spent attending presentations and trying to get outside into the beautiful weather at every possible chance. During the evenings we would head into downtown St. Petersburg (exciting!!) for dinner and then come back to the hotel bar for a night of schmoozing with the big names in the field over a couple of drinks. Good times! Finally on Saturday afternoon I had had enough of the conference and couldn't stand the thought of being inside when it was hot and sunny outside...so a few of us took the afternoon off. We went out to the pier where there was a great restaurant for us to sit out on the patio. Later we went down to the beach just so we could dip our toes in the ocean water...it was a nice afternoon in the sun! If it wasn't for the actual presentation I had to give that night I don't think I would have gone back to the conference that day. Unfortunately on Sunday we had to leave beautiful Florida and travel back to rainy Vancouver. Pat has attached a few pictures of my trip below...
I also just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who sent birthday wishes, cards and presents!! Everything was greatly appreciated!
Riley and my bachelor week didn't start off too well. We were back at the vet's office for some more exams for Riley. We've added a second drug to help his health. We are awaiting more tests and the possibility of a 3rd pill to help offset a few side effects he's been feeling the past few weeks. The poor guy must be wondering what we're doing to him. Let's hope he gets better soon and gets to enjoy the summer with us at Ultimate and for camping trips!
As mentioned last week, I was volunteering this weekend at the Festival du bois, where the theme was Flaunt your Frenchness! I had a blast doing it. It was great to be surrounded by such an enthusiastic crowd and be able to immerse myself again in all things french. It definitely brought back many memories and reinforced how proud I am of my culture and all that my parents, family and friends have taught me over the years. I truly am lucky.
I worked in the Kids Tent both days and did odd jobs pretty much all weekend, from helping set up some of the audio equipment, to greeting the entertainers, to sweeping the stage, to making sure the entertainers lounge had food, drinks and heat, to being the running joke for the clown's performance, to greeting the crowd, anything and everything. I had the chance to see some great performances in the Kids Tent. They had alot of folklore acts, an African troupe, a very funny clown and some traditional Métis dancers. I also took the opportunity to walk around and see some of the other acts in the main tent, but let's be honest, I walked around to get some of that great home cookin'!!! Being a volunteer, most of what I ate was free, and boy did I take advantage of that! I ate about 5 helpings of Tire-sur-la-neige, 3 poutines, 1 sugar pie, a traditional breakfast (pancakes, eggs, bacon) and some cotton candy. I love volunteering!! Have a look at the sweet hat I got!!
Besides that, it was a pretty quiet week. we are already starting to talk about plans for the summer for Ultimate. Nationals are in Halifax this year, which would be a great experience, but might be a little too pricey coming from Vancouver. Not sure who Cathy and I plan on playing with. Many options are open for us, and over the next few weeks, we'll have a better idea.
We have been invited to our very first traditional Indian wedding. Our friends Surinder and Raman are getting married on March 18th in a traditional Indian ceremony. The festivities start at 10am and last well into the night. We can't wait to experience this first hand.
MY TURN: My week started off by going to physio for my neck. It turns out that I have some more serious injuries than originally thought. The physiotherapist ran a number of tests and determined that I have ligament damage on the right side of my neck which has caused a number of other problems with my spine alignment, neurological weakness, etc. I don't really know what that all means, but I will be attending physio for the next couple of weeks and the therapist expects everything to be cleared up with no lingering problems. So that was the not-so-great news of my week...but things definitely got better from there...
On Tuesday I left for my conference. I drove down to Seattle with a couple of classmates and on Wednesday we flew to Tampa. It was definitely stressful the few days before leaving, lots of long nights working with only a couple of hours of sleep to rejuvinate, but it all worked out in the end. We landed in Tampa late on Wednesday after a long day of travelling so that night we all just decided to relax and actually get a good night of sleep. It was a good thing too because after that night there was very little sleep. The days were spent attending presentations and trying to get outside into the beautiful weather at every possible chance. During the evenings we would head into downtown St. Petersburg (exciting!!) for dinner and then come back to the hotel bar for a night of schmoozing with the big names in the field over a couple of drinks. Good times! Finally on Saturday afternoon I had had enough of the conference and couldn't stand the thought of being inside when it was hot and sunny outside...so a few of us took the afternoon off. We went out to the pier where there was a great restaurant for us to sit out on the patio. Later we went down to the beach just so we could dip our toes in the ocean water...it was a nice afternoon in the sun! If it wasn't for the actual presentation I had to give that night I don't think I would have gone back to the conference that day. Unfortunately on Sunday we had to leave beautiful Florida and travel back to rainy Vancouver. Pat has attached a few pictures of my trip below...
I also just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who sent birthday wishes, cards and presents!! Everything was greatly appreciated!
posted by Pat and Cathy at 3:16 PM
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