Busy, Busy, Busy

It hit me Friday afternoon as I was driving home, that I am getting married this Friday. I was wondering when it was going to start sinking in. I was waiting at the lights at 25th & Oak. A stretch limo was stopped beside me. I thought to myself, I am going to be in one of those next week, and I looked at my clock and realized that in exactly one week, at that very point in time I will be in my limo, en route to the Yacht Club.

This past weekend was a lot of fun, and I really got into vacation mode, but I am at work today and tomorrow, so it was hard to get into that frame of mind. I am looking at work this week like a break from everything else that is going on around me.

I left work around 4pm on Friday. It was so hot in my office, and we finally figured out why: Yes, the morning sun does stream into my office, heating up my desk, but that is only first thing in the morning, by late morning the sun has moved and is no longer beating down on me.

But there were still pockets of extreme heat in our office, and even though we have left the air conditioning on, on full blast every night, our office has been getting hotter and hotter and hotter.

There is another air conditioner in the main office area. The back end of it sticks into our office. It has been on full blast all day and night; blasting cold air into the main office and blasting hot air into ours. So in the battle between cold air and hot air, hot air won, making our office more unbearable each day.

But the secretary isn't here today, so we have turned off the main office air conditioner. I hope it works.

When I arrived home from work on Friday I was so hot there are no words to describe how I felt. Colin was just heading out to go pick up his attendants gifts, so I said I would join him. I drew a cold bath in hopes of cooling off. It worked for all of five minutes. By the time I was dressed and we were out the door and on our way, I was hot again, and feeling dehydrated.

We went to our first destination to pick up the attendants gifts and then headed to Richmond to buy Colin a pair of shoes for the wedding, and pick up his wedding band. I started feeling sick, so we stopped off at a convenience store to pick up some Gatorade. It did the trick. By the time we got to Richmond I was still hot, but no longer feeling sick and dehydrated.

Afterwards we went to Colin's parents for dinner and to visit with his out of town family. We went for a swim in hopes of cooling off. The swim helped, and as it got later into the evening, it began to cool off a little, to a nice, comfortable temperature.

I woke up the next morning far too early for a Saturday, but I was so excited about my family's arrival from England that evening. I took off at around 10:30am for my hair appointment, and then dropped by the florists afterwards to settle that balance. When I got home I was frying again and just sat on the couch, watching TV, trying to cool off.

Colin and I left for the airport at 6:30 and met my mum, dad and Andrew at the Elephant & Castle for a drink and to wait for our family to arrive. When we arrived home we starting talking about the fireworks, and some our family wanted to go see them. So with only 10 minutes to the start of the fireworks, all 10 of us piled into two cars and made a bee-line for Trimble Park and the West Point Grey Academy School grounds.

Yesterday was another busy day. We went over to Colin's parents for breakfast and then popped round to Fraser and Brenda's (old family friends) to pick up their Quaich, which we are borrowing for the wedding ceremony. We visited with Fraser for an hour or so and he shared stories with us about me as a little girl. It is always fascinating to hear different stories from different people, because no one person ever quite remembers everything of one event, but if you talk to different people, you can piece the puzzle together. For instance, I had completely forgotten that my mum and dad, Fraser and Brenda used to take me swimming at UBC and skating at Kerrisdale Arena. I remember going to the UBC pool with my aunt, uncle and cousins, but not with Fraser and Brenda.

That was not the end of my day. I dropped Colin home - he was heading over to a friend's, and I made my way to my parents. There was my family, looking so hard done by, lounging around and in the pool. It was the same scene at Colin's parents house.

Later in the evening we headed to the Cheshire Cheese for dinner. My family traveled all the way from England, and their first meal out, we take them to an English-style pub. Go figure. My aunt, uncle, brother and I all opted for Toad in the Hole (sausage baked into Yorkshire pudding).

After dinner we returned home and watched BritComs on BBC Kids. I could say again they traveled all the way from England and we ended up watching British TV, but British shows are far superior to most North American shows, so no big loss. I got my second taste of My Hero, which I really enjoy. And Blackadder, one of my favourites.

So, here I am at work. Tonight we have a family BBQ; a chance for my mum's relatives and my dad's relatives to meet again or meet for the first time. Tomorrow evening I am going out with some of the Crofton girls. Wednesday I plan to putter around during the day, and Wednesday evening we have the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Thursday Devon, Lisa and I are going to the spa for manicures and pedicures, and then Friday... well I get married. But it doesn't end there - Saturday we aren't really doing anything, which I think will be enjoyable. Sunday we have a brunch and gift opening with the whole family and then we are heading up to Whistler for a couple of days and then, life returns to normal.