AND ANOTHER SUMMER WEEK HAS COME AND GONE...

Well, a very long week has come and gone then a very lovely weekend aboard Summer Breeze! The week was especially torturous as ReRe left me for a week so that she could take a vacation. Why she felt that a vacation, to spend time with her children would be so important and good for her, was something she had to do is beyond me. She left me all alone at work, no one to play with or anything. Never fear, I will get her back at the end of August when I leave for 2 weeks of vacation - 2 weeks in a row!

After a stupidly crazy week of crap and bullshit, Wilson and I met at the marina. Wilson walked Maggie and I went to the grocery store to get us some dinner. Once back, cocktail hour began. See the picture below to see how happy Wilson was that we had begun drinking!

I was just as happy but our neighbour Kevin did not take a picture of me with my large cocktail! I was very, very happy to have a rye and ginger or many glasses of wine in my hand.
Saturday dawned and Mags and I had a lovely morning walk together after which we went back to bed. I have to say, I love a good nap - whether it is first thing in the morning or in the afternoon. On Saturday, I had both - it was truly decadent.

As you can see from this picture, Maggie totally supports her mom's view of napping! Frankly all this is a reason to show off a really cute picture of her.

Saturday night was a classic drunken DiDi evening. It begain with copious amounts of drinking - that started around mid-afternoon. We continued drinking cocktail and then moved to wine with dinner. While enjoying a lovely, I bit my own finger - so hard that it left a mark on the fingernail and was subsequently mocked by all. Then I proceeded to keep drinking after dinner and at some time that evening managed to drop my shoe into the marina. I did fish it out and then tried to snuggle into a camping chair - under the guise of being more comfortable but really I wanted to sleep. It was at that point that I realized that I was well and truly drunk and it was time to go to bed. I know it sounds like I have finally learned my limits - and perhaps I have in some way. But truly, when you try to snuggle down and have a nap in a camping chair - while still fully clothed and have one wet shoe - it does register with your drunk brain that it is time to go to bed. Somehow I made it through these 2 days of drinking without a hangover. I am not sure what I did that made this happen but when I find out - I will be repeating this over and over and over.

Sunday involved more sleeping and relaxing and then our weekend came to an end with take-out and movies. We finally saw Syriana as well as Matador. Still don't understand Syriana and am really glad that I closed my eyes and plugged my ears during the George Clooney torture scene. All Sunday ever makes me wish for is more weekend or a very large lottery win so that everyday is Saturday. Mental note - must go to buy large amounts of lottery tickets.

Here is to having ReRe back at work on Monday and another weekend very soon!

DiDi

GNO FROM GONOE (A.K.A. THE BEST SUSHI EVER)

As promised, the GNO outing happened today. Much hilarity ensued as it always does when we 3 gather. As DiDi sent out the meeting maker for the day, ReRe was in charge of minutes (truthfully, she does do the best at it - Mellie is never allowed as she will never do them). ReRe was challenged as she/we experienced car difficulties, but Sorority Sister that she is, she did these on her Blackberry while waiting for VW Roadside Assistance.

Minutes
Note: minutes written from the Gonoe parking lot where I still sit at 3:18 waiting for a tow truck as my stupid car has decided it is perfectly happy in park and is no longer willing to even consider another gear such as reverse or drive. So, in the interest of making good use of this time...

• DiDi and ReRe extremely tardy (due to very large accident that caused us to rubberneck like never before), leaving little blonde girl to order unlikely quantities of food;
• DiDi and Mellie to have Blackberries confiscated prior to future GNOs due to insufferably poor cell phone ettiquette
• Mellie thoroughly pleased with Tripod photos - see good photos of Stumpy below

• ReRe unable to appreciate Stumpy's sex appeal;
• ReRe somewhat concerned that Mellie and DiDi are oddly attracted to the Floopala
• Jewemy slightly wounded by others' less demeaning terms of endearment but still happily answers to Poopalla and Jalalloo (sp?)
• ReRe and DiDi not permitted to call Thurston and Lovie by their new names, nor to refer to any members of the Jewemy's family as Kennedys at Wedding Extravaganza brunch on Sunday
• All in agreement iPod man is lamé; ReRe much appreciative of sorority therapy but still considers her life a disaster
• Decision re breakup vs. anniversary celebration still TBD
• Mellie successfully persuaded The Jew to honeymoon in Italy;
• Mellie in serious danger of accidentally falling into an Armani suit;
• Mellie now accepting cash donations for wedding
• iPod man unable to contribute more than $1.95 as monthly entertainment budget already used up at Burger King
• ReRe and Jewemy in agreement on spending philosophy; buy now, earn (hopefully) later
• Mellie in full pre-wedding workout frenzy;
• lipo out of the question due to unsightly arm girdles;
• wedding guests unlikely to follow direction to avert eyes;
• arm flattering chicken-like elbows-out stance preferred
• DiDi considering new dress or Exlax-Metamucil combo plan to fit into lovely but small Carriere;
• strange rustling sounds on dance floor will be due to DiDi's Depends
  Mellie wearing white but DiDi true to form with severe soy spillage; three Tide-to-go sticks on hand but still a shmutzy shiksa
• DiDi and ReRe disappointed in not seeing Mellie's 5-year-old barrette-pigtail hairdo; will forward drawing later
• Mellie unable to return to work due to distance from car to entrance;
• unsure if "but I flat-ironed today" considered suitable excuse for illegal parking
• ReRe STILL in Gonoe parking lot at 3:48 Must go yell at someone.
• Next GNO - location: Cozy Nails. Date: TBD

ReRe car update - 4:14 p.m., still stuck in Gonoe parking lot as tow truck arrived but cannot budge ReRe's car due to location of restaurant. ReRe is now going to live at Gonoe, can eat lovely food, get a drink although the booths would not be comfortable sleeping quarters.

Email funny lines while ReRe waits for tow trucks

• Pretty sure I just watched my tow truck drive right past me. I may be here for days. Someone please send wine
• Is it bad to have sushi for lunch AND dinner? What about breakfast?
• Also REALLY have to pee but don't want to risk missing the damn tow truck. DiDi - wish you could have left me some of your Depends
• I think I am small enough to fit in one of the industrial sized sinks to bathe - don't you think DiDi?

God my friends are funny! They are even better in real life!

AND YET ANOTHER WEEKEND HAS COME TO AN END...

After a non eventful week, filled with work and wine, we find ourselves at the boat for another lovely weekend of relaxing and more wine. We were social butterflies this weekend as we have guests each day of the weekend. David and Michelle on Friday, Dr. Josie and Monte on Saturday and Eddie on Sunday.

Didi was a student at Wilson's School of Boating this weekend as I learned how we wash the exterior of the boat and I practiced docking the boat - both backing in and going in bow first. The goal is to be comfortable enough that by the end of the summer, I can dock the boat without Wilson calling out instructions to me and me being a nervous Nellie. I will never be the boat expert that Wilson is but I will be competent. I have to say that Wilson is a very good teacher. He is very patient with me and never gets anxious (that I can tell) which is very good with me as his freaky student. This is just one of the reasons why I love him.

Here is a picture of Summer Breeze at sunset. It was taken by our friend Kev who is a dock neighbour. You can see why we love to spend time on it - it is just so damn nice to be on the water. Also - here is a picture of Wilson and I - I would like to say all shiny and happy but we are just windblown (and yes, happy). The amount of freckles that are now on my face is very disconcerting. Also, here is Wilson and Maggie on the dock - papa and puppy all snuggled together in the sunshine. Shiny, happy marina love!

Sorority Update
ReRe is in upstate New York this weekend visiting family. We carefully perused the Chanel and Hermes sites before she left just in case there might be a whirlwind visit to Canal street. Alas no shopping trip happended but no worries, fake purses are going no where thank heaven, so we live to shop another day. However we are now have indepth knowledge of the recent Chanel line and there are many items we will immediatly purchase when we win the lottery (especially the white clutch with the interlocking Chanel C's as the clast). We were meant to own Chanel!!!

ReRe, have a good visit and come back soon. Work is dull as dishwater with out you (even though you are a workaholic now).

Mellie - chatted on Monday and Mellie has called for an ESR (Emergency Sorority Rescue). ReRe, DiDi, Miss Mew and significant others have been asked to attend a wedding brunch for Mellie and Jewemy in swishy Rosedale. Wilson is giving up precious time on the boat to go with me to the party. Thank heavens - although it will allow us to meet some of Mellie and Jewemy's family before their nuptials. When a Sorority sister calls and requests and emergency assistance all other sorority sisters come to their aid. See you on Sunday Mellie - you can say hello with a lovely mimosa.

Ciao for now and there is a sorority lunch scheduled for this week. I will make ReRe do her funny minutes and there will be a post from the lunch.

Kisses,

DiDi

HAPPY CANADA DAY PEOPLE (I know I am late but the sentiment is real)!

At long last a long weekend. Doesn't it just feel good to say the words long weekend - say it with me know - LOOOOONNNNGGG WEEEEEKKKEENNNDDD!!!! For me it was 4 days of total relaxation.

June 29, 2006
I woke up a with a titch of a hangover as we killed 2 bottles of wine the night before. I was on vacation but Wilson was not so I was celebrating. He had a breakfast meeting and then I was to drive him to work so that we would not have both cars at the marina. Needless to say, I quickly adapted to the day off - pretty much since the minute I hauled my tired ass out of bed and quickly moved to the couch to watch Good Morning America (I grew up near the Detroit border and have watched it since the David Hartmann/Joan Lunden days). Prince was on that morning - shout out to Patterson as she loves Prince more than anything (even her boyfriend).

Sidebar story - 3 years ago or so, Terri buys herself a ticket to Prince (this was in his jazz/blues, I don't want to play my previous hits phase) and takes herself on a date to see him. The seat was on the aisle on the floor and he walked throught the audience at one point and touched her arm. Please know that at the time she was wearing her Purple Rain shirt from high school. At that moment, as the man in purple wearing his mom's high heeled shoes touched her arm, I do believe she had an orgasm. When she came back to my place and recounted the story (this through a herb induced haze) and while watching copious amounts of Sex and the City, I think she had another orgasm.

So he played his new song - 'Get on the Boat' which I quickly downloaded from Limewire as I thought it was appropriate for the weekend. I then realized I had to get off my lazy ass and get dressed and get stuff packed for the boat and our weekend. At this point, my brain is mush and I forgot to pack so much stuff - like the food in the fridge for the boat.

I go shopping and run an errand (it was too an errand, I did not arbitrarily go shopping and leave Maggie in the car on a hot day). Traffic is terrible and by the time I am going downtown, it is much later than I thought it would be. In fact, it is so late that really I should have bought the food and be on the boat right now but I am all - la-di-da relaxed and singing in the car. Wilson calls and says that he is almost ready to be picked up and where am I. OOOPS - so much for being Miss Organized and on Ball. We go and get get groceries (at this point he is not all that thrilled with me and is good mood buzz kill) and my good mood kind of starts to go away. Our friend TV is launching his brand new 40' sailboat - called Manhattan - and Wilson really wants to see it in the water. We haul ass and get to the boat, rip Maggie off of her usual lengthy walk and sniff the entire marina and get the boat out and go.

We find Manhattan all her crew on the backside of Centre Island and this is where the story gets interesting. Wilson, sees them and speeds up - no problem. I am thinking, are we coming up on the starboard (right) side (like my use of the nautical term???) but no. He decides to hot dog it and turns the boat at the last minute to come up on the port (left) side. What was DiDi doing at this moment do you think - getting her cameral line up to take shot of Manhattan. What happens to DiDi when Wilson cranks the boat...she goes flying and slams (that's right people - I slammed) into the side of the boat. I have a large purple bruise on my ass to prove it. I think that Wilson was still pissed at my pokeyness earlier in the day and got me back but good. Needless to say - I was not amused. The boys on Manhattan loved the hot dog move - DiDi not so much.

I take a pile of pictures of the boat - here are some of the best ones...




Anyhoo, we follow along as TV makes his way to his slip at the RCYC (for those of you not in the know - Royal Canadian Yacht Club). Snob and sail central. They dock the boat and all get off and get her secured. At this time, Wilson, Maggie and I are blowing do-nuts outside the RCYC harbour waiting for the sign that they are ready for us and are going to show us where to dock Summer Breeze (Wilson's boat). We are patiently blowing do-nuts when a very large sailboat asks us to wait around as their engine is dead and they can't get their anchor up. The RCYC is sending our their Zodiac to help tow them in but just in case the Zodiac wasn't enough, could we wait and help. Sure we say as you always help a boater in need and so we do. We wait and watch the Zodiac can't move the sailboat as the anchor is stuck in too much kelp/seaweed/gunky stuff (at this point Wilson tells me that the anchor Bruce Plow type of anchor that is made to dig into kelp/seaweed/gunky stuff. Not that any of you needed to know this but it was Wilson's addition to the story. So in we come to help and they toss us the line from their boat. Let me segue for a moment and tell you that as we approached RCYC, I went below in our boat and on make-up, change my shirt (lovely white shirt) and otherwise make myself much prettier than before as we are going to a swishy private club. The rope that they throw me is older boat rope and not only that it has been in the smelly water for quite some time. The sailboat throws me the rope and, yup you guessed it, it hits me square in the chest of my lovely white shirt. Dirt is all over my shirt, white capris and my face. Wilson is giving me instructions and I am listening and trying to feed the line out so that we can tie them to our boat and then tow them in. Wilson is slowly trolling out so that we can extend the rope and the the sailboat shifted and moved really fast one way while we wre going the other. The next thing I know is that my left arm is being slammed against the back seat as I try to hold on to the rope and if I hadn't had my leg braced against the side of the boat I would have been pulled out the back of the boat. That would not have been good. I haul some rope back and tie it off and then we slowly and carefully manage to tow the sailboat back to their slip at RCYC. They are very thankful and then TV shows us where we are to park Summer Breeze.

We pull the boat up to the spot where we are to park the boat and get ready to tie it off. All hands are helping us and it is quick and easy. At this point, Maggie needs to have pee BUT we are told by our friend Mel (a long time member of RCYC) that dogs are not allowed on the island. At this point, you can imagine my reaction -- we have just towed a members boat in and out sweet and beloved fur-child needs to pee and she can't cuz of the pretenious club people (can you tell that I am not really a private club person). Mel says that we need to carry her off the dock (yup - carry our girl off the dock) and then walk her on the outer grounds and I know that she is hoping that no one will see us. My cynicsm and "I can't believe that you are serious about this attitude" is coming through in every pore of my body but this is what we have to do, so I do it. Wilson gets the boat secured and I take care of Maggie. She is thrilled by the new ground to sniff and all is good in her world. Wilson come to find me and we walk back to Summer Breeze and some member from her sailboat calls out to us that 'dogs are not allowed on the island'. Wilson takes this one as I think that he saw my 'seriously people' attitude and answered for the 3 of us by explaining that we just towed a members boat in and blah blah blah. We carry Maggie back to the boat, get her settled and then proceed over to Manhattan to see what see looks like and toasther maiden voyage.

We are on the boat long enough to get a glass of champagne each and for DiDi to have a piece of bread with cheese when our friend Shave says "Hey isn't that Maggie in the water over there?" At this point, everything goes into slow motion for me. I turn, see my baby in the water and panic. I turn, get off TV's boat as fast as I can and start running (in my ungainly, klutzy way) down the dock to get to my baby as fast as possible. Wilson is right behind me but has taken a moment to relieve himself of wallet, BlackBerry and keys as he believes that I am going to jump in the water after my baby. He is very smart because that is what I was thinking I would have to do. I get to our boat and jump aboard and Maggie gets closer to me and I grab her harnass to haul her out of the water. At this point, Wilson is right behind me on the boat and I am holding my sweet puppy for all that I am worth. She is freaking out and so am I - but we are both calming down sitting there together. After a few minutes, we move her into the boat and dry her off. At this point, I say to Wilson that he can go back to Manhattan but I am not leaving her. Wilson goes back to the boat to collect his wallet, BlackBerry and keys, finishes his beer, says goodbye to all and sundry and makes his way back to Summer Breeze.

We leave RCYC and head back to the calm and un-snobby atmosphere of our marina to make dinner, dry off and relax. Maggie is much calmer and so is her mom. We have a great dinner, a nice bottle of wine and laugh at the beginning of our long weekend. At this point, anything else would be anti-climatic. We spend Saturday at the boat and when I get up, I realize that I have a bruise on my left arm the size of Manhattan and it is swollen as well. After discussing what I did and how I could have done this to my arm, we piece it together that this mammoth bruise is from my arm slamming against the back seat of our boat before I could tie it off. Owie, owie and owie. It hurts a lot let me tell you. We spend Saturday night and some of Sunday at the boat. We leave mid-afternoon on Sunday to come home, water the garden, walk Maggie and get ready to go to Eggsy's house for dinner with him, his girlfriend The Young'n and the rest of Wilson's university friends and their wives. We sleep at home Sunday evening, in air conditioned comfort and then head to the boat for the last day of our weekend.

Monday arrives hot and wonderful. We spend the day on the boat in the sunshine and wind and have a great day together. We leave the marina and come home, relaxed, tanned and happy. There is nothing better than a long weekend!!! I hope that you all had a weekend like we did - a bit of excitement but overall very relaxing and happy.

Happy Canada Day to all and to all a good night!

DiDi

SO MUCH TO TYPE, SO LITTLE TIME!!!

So I have been a little lax (ok, downright lazy) about updating 'the blog', but I have been busy OK!

Let me bring you up to speed:

Thursday, June 21st
My new glasses came in at LensCrafters. They are Chanel (and not Fanel or the fake version but the real deal) and cost the earth. I have to say - LOVING THEM!!! They look great on me, if I do say so myself. I had to get new glasses after my old faithful pair fell into the Outer Harbour Marina. Yup, I knocked them off my face and it was like it happened in slow motion. This means that Wilson and I had to go to the mall and we bought him shoes! He bought 3 pairs and even offered to buy me a pair to replace the Birkenstocks that he hates but I love. Mellie - I now believe that all men hate them! There were no suitable shoes to replace them with so I did not get a new pair. Frankly I was looking for a cute pair of strappy sandals but the pickings were slim at the Fairview Bay. We (this is the royal we) bought him a 'hot' pair of Euro-style' black shoes which are awesome (look for those at your wedding Mellie) - totally not something that he normally wears; a pair of Kenneth Cole brown shoes and a cool pair of flip flops for the boat. It was a good day for Wilson's feet. I love just being near a shoe purchase. While not quite the thrill of buying pretty girly shoes that my friends will remark over, it is still fun.

Friday, June 22nd
Toddie-san celebrated his birthday will many friends - mostly from Pembroke and his MBA days. A good time was had by all - much alcohol was drank as well as crappy cigars. Highlights of the evening were:

• Steve cooking food for the masses so that we all would have food to eat
• Kerri getting Todd to make her an espresso to help her recover from her hangover from the day before so she could properly work on her hangover for the next day
• everyone taking bets on when Dave and Lorrie would arrive - 10:30 was the actual time of arrival. They called at 8:00 p.m. to get directions.
• Hearing the story of 'Songs to Shag by'. Let me elaborate: Toddie-san, Michelle nd Kathleen (whom Toddie was enamoured with) were driving in Tabbert's car (sans Tabbert) to Pembroke. Toddie ADD kicks in and he bugs the girls until they let him listen to the hockey game for half of the 4 hour drive. Once they say - enough to the hockey, he says to them "I have a really good cd that we can listen to". The girls think - anything but hockey and they put it in. Out of the car speakers comes heinous, freaky metal music. The girls are very scared. The CD is rapidly ejected from the player and Todd loses all radio priviledges. Come Sunday and all are driving home. Now Tabbert is driving her car back from Pembroke with everyone in the car with her. They tell Tabbert the story of the heinous devil music that Todd made the listen to and Toddie began to pout in the back seat. The girls feel sorry for him so he gives them the CD again. They notice the title written on the CD say - 'Songs to Shag by'. The girls think to themselves - excellent - R & B, songs we will know the words to, good driving tunes. Out of the car speakers comes even more heinous devil music which was quickly ejected. It was determined that this is the main reason why Toddie-san is still single. Nevertheless, Todd was banned from DJ-ing at his own party as all were afraid of the music that would start being played.
• Wilson and Dave putting the bucket of ice and water into Toddie's bed so that he would have a 'surprise' when he went to bed. Boys will be boys!
• Leaving and seeing the parking ticket on our dash - Wilson jokingly says, see where you parked the car, it got us a ticket (For the record, he drove down so that I could drive his slightly drunk ass home). My response - nothing says I love you like a parking ticket.

Saturday, June 23rd
This is the day of my niece Lisa's wedding! But first we must drop Maggie off at the dog nanny. I have to tell you - this is not easy for me. She is my (our) baby and she is old and really only loves us (really now she only loves Wilson but I am along for the ride). This is our pretty girl (this is her a few years ago before her grey highlights became so prominent)

We drop her off in Kensington Market area and my nervousness grows. Then the dog nanny comes out and she is a total earth mother and you can tell that she is all about the animals. Maggie leave us like we were yesterday's news and goes in the house to sniff for the cat. In her world, this is a good day. She will spend much time sniffing the house playing her game of "Where's Waldo" looking for the cat!

Off we go to Niagara-on-the-Lake and the wedding. But first, we head to Winery land! We are going to visit a bunch of wineries that we have always talked about visiting but have not yet made the trek. We end up hitting 6 wineries in total and buying about 5 cases of wine - none of which we can drink right now as it needs to be cellared for about 2 - 5 years. It was so much fun! We bought wine for my 40th, Wilson's 40th, my 45th and Wilson's 50th (which is 14 years away). When we walked into the Hilton Garden Suites - one of the groom's family asked if we bought wine for the wedding. Wilson's response - if I am buying wine for the wedding, there would be a helluva lot more than this". God I love this man!!!

We kiss my parents hello and go off to our room to get dressed. I am wearing a very pretty black and white flowered dress that I got at Ann Taylor Loft in South Beach and Wilson is wearing his gorgeous Hugo Boss black suit (For the record, he normally gets lucky when he wears that suit) and his cool new shoes. We look good!!! Off to the wedding we go and it is a scorcher - of course, the wedding is outside as is the reception. Wilson is officially melting. I compensate for the heat by drinking copious amounts of chilled white wine. I tell a funny story about my brother to get the bride and groom to kiss, we eat, we drink, we dance. I see lots of Lisa's friends that have got to know over the years - a couple of them even commented on my very pretty shoes (they are very smart girls) and there was a lot of love people. My brother and sister-in-law did not stop smiling the entire evening. My dad did an awesome grace before dinner and all in all the event was a blast!!!

My sweet niece looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress and it seems impossible to me that she is now married. I remember her birth and all the life milestones like they were yesterday. They are honeymooning in France and I know that they will have a long and wonderful like together.

(PS: I am sure that I lost weight at that wedding for the amount that I sweated while sitting and the the copious amounts of dancing - it was a total prescription for weight loss! A girl can dream can't she???)


Sunday, June 24th
We get up - I did not have a hangover for the record - but both of us are starving. Breakfast is provided and Wilson and I are not shy about getting ourselves food when we are hungry. We scarf down some chow and then head home to get our pretty Maggie from the dog nanny. Maayan (the dog nanny) is so sweet - she took Maggie and the other dog she was caring for on a 2 hour walk and then had them both sleep with her. She said it was great to be part of a dog sandwich. Believe me, I know how much of a bed hog that Maggie can be, I can't imagine that she got much sleep. Maggie is VERY happy to see us and off we go to the boat which makes Wilson VERY happy. Our dear friends Rich and Rahel come down for a cruise and dinner and it was a great end to a very busy weekend. By the time we get home you have never seen 2 more exhausted people and one very tired dog! We fall into bed and sleep the sleep of the dead only to wake up on Monday and begin the madness all over again!

Will update on the Holiday weekend when I get another moment.

DiDi