The Weekend

Yesterday was our 34th Anniversary so along with that, Father’s day, Steve’s 58th birthday on the 26th and all four children being in town for the first time at this time of year in 10 years, we decided to have a one size fits all dinner. I decided that I didn’t want to have 10 people for dinner, Mel was not in any position to host a dinner and Dave’s backyard leaves more than a bit to be desired – that is one of the areas on his house that is scheduled for work this year (yes, Ann, if you are reading this, they are going to fix it up – they already have thrown out the non-working barbeque!).

Because Mel can’t do much more than telephone around, I asked her to take charge of finding a restaurant. I hadn’t realized that 10 people constitutes a “group” so unless we wanted to order from the “group” menu, we were limited in where we could go. She chose Bonterra (http://www.bonterra.ca/) Restaurant. I guess it is what you would call trendy. They have bison, rabbit meatballs, etc. The prices were not wallet friendly (at least we had all agreed to cover our own costs but….). I guess maybe I am behind the times because Steve and I usually go out for breakfast, not dinner, so I was rather taken aback. Poor James – it cost $50 for him and his girlfriend for basically 2 bowls of fancy spaghetti and two pops – that was the cheapest thing on the menu! James and I reviewed the bill and they charged him for his refill on Pepsi so I guess he had three pops – not two. I agreed that after everyone else had paid their share, I would pick up the balance but the bill they brought to me was overcharged by $50 so that took a bit of sorting out – I will be keeping a close eye on my credit card statement when it arrives.

On Saturday, Steve and I were talking about anniversary presents to each other. I told Steve that I would like the topazes in one of my rings replaced – I have lost 2 – they are on the underside of the ring so they don’t show but I know they are missing. He wants a combined gift that I am attempting to get but it is taking longer than I anticipated. Anyway, my ring is going to have to be put on hold because I think we NEED to replace the dryer. Over the last few weeks, when I turn it on, it may or may not start – sometimes it needs to have the drum turned a bit then it is fine but on Saturday, it wasn’t willing to run for more than about 2 minutes then it would stop. Of course this had to be the load with the bath towels that we needed so I ended up going to the laudromat and using their dryer. I had another load in the washer so I decided to hang that out on the line – it seemed like a great idea until the line (this particular cord has been up for probably 8 years) decided to break and all the clean sheets and shirts landed on the ground! This in itself was not too bad until Willow decided that, while I was in the yard gathering laundry, this would be a great time to play ball so she dropped her ball on the clean sheets then ran across the rest of the laundry to get into position to catch the ball! It’s a good thing that I have more than one set of sheets. It’s also a good thing she is really cute.

On the getting things wet front, apparently our appliances and plumbing are in cahoots. On Wednesday, after Steve had his shower, James came upstairs from his room and reported there was water leaking onto the floor from under our bathroom. Steve took the front cover off our tub and found one leak but decided that the caulking around a part of the tub needed to be removed so he did that and he realized that the other leak was caused where caulking that has come loose. We had the ensuite bathroom put in 12 years ago – my, how time flies. I suggested the rest of the caulking should be removed so it could all be replaced because after 12 years, I am sure that more than just one place needs replacing. Anyway, it turned out that I was right and a bit of the drywall, behind the tub-surround, was wet so we have left it open to dry out before replacing the caulking. On Sunday morning, it is still not dry enough so it will probably be Monday before he can put in new caulking and we will be good to go. I have really missed being able to use our own shower. John and Carley have also been using the main bathroom so this has required a bit more scheduling. It’s silly, but you get used to the water pressure in a particular shower, then nothing else feels quite right. Also, the main bathroom is down the hall so I have to remember to take everything with me before I have my shower. It’s not really difficult, it’s just something I am not used to doing anymore. I am not really sure how we managed with 6 people and one bathroom for the first 10 years we lived here! But, when I really consider the number of people who are losing their jobs and their homes, whining about having to use a different bathroom seems very self-indulgent so I think I will close this off now.