Oh What a Beautiful MORNING - I Cain't Say No - The Farmer and the Cow man should be FRIENDS.

The Friday
Nothing much exciting happened on Friday. I got taken out for lunch – that was actually exciting! Vicki is an awesome lady with whom I work – we had Chinese – no none of it was cat – I’m positive.

The Saturday
My evilness came into play.
I woke up early and went shopping. No I didn’t buy clothes or shoes but rather food and alcohol – so just as good.
I bought hamburger, onion, wine, beer, coolers. I think that’s it. Later on in the day I realized I forgot the hamburger buns – so I had to return to the store.Aine came up to my mom’s place – without Parker – which is a story in and of itself. She helped my evil plans come into play.
I made hamburgers from scratch – I’d never done this before – and I probably should have looked up a recipe rather than making it up. Don’t worry they tasted good – I just didn’t add eggs to hold them together – so a few crumbled on me…but the majority held together – the crumblers – they got the cheese! Cheeseburgers that is! Oh wait – I also bought corn! Mmmmm corn on the cob!
So – with corn, hamrburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, macaroni salad, marshmallow salad, two raspberry pies, and a bunch of tarts (and a bunch of booze) I invited my Nana (who made the salads and desserts), aunts, uncles and a few of my mom’s friends over for a surprise bday dinner for my mom! She cried. I made my mom cry! But it was a good cry. Well I think…. there still is the possibility that she cried because she realized she wasn’t going to church this weekend. She had to work on the weekend – and church usually is Saturday after shes off --- but instead of coming home to go to church – there was a house full of people --- its ok – I asked my Nana in advance for her blessing to obstruct my mom from going to church – she said it was ok!

The Sunday
Aine and I hung out a little bit longer – we took my sister to church in the morning – and watched tv into the afternoon. (It was also Ariana’s bday … she was in Windsor – I was not… my friend Fearon also got married… she was in New Brunswick – I was not)

The Monday
I realized that August 6th should possibly be a more sad day for me than the 7th --- because the last time I saw my dad (alive) was the 6th…. So that realization was a bit sad. I got to drive into Sarnia and meet up with Barry and Josdalyne, who although live in Ottawa, were in the area for the long weekend.
Oh yeah – I forgot – we also got a phone call on the weekend – it was our last telephone automatic alarm to allow us to update our obit listings! That’s right we’ve sadly had to say goodbye to another. So the Monday night my mom and my Nana went to the funeral home (I stayed home with my sister)… we had the option of going to the funeral the following morning – and really what better way to celebrate the memory of my father on the day of his passing than to go to a funeral…. we didn’t go.

The Tuesday
We woke up early. I don’t really think my mom slept. This is the interesting story day.
My Nana came to the house early in the morning too. We all got ready…. I mapquested and printed stuff off – we all got into the mustang (me driving) and we headed to Stratford. I had previously bought tickets for the 4 of us to go see the musical Oklahoma. Woo woo.
So we headed to Stratford. Not an easy task – it was POURING RAIN! The winds were strong, the roads were crap (pot holes and slippery!) so the drive was not smooth…it was rocky. Later my Nana admitted that she spent the latter half of the drive praying the roads would become less violent because with every bump she became one step closer to wetting her pants! Ahhh grammas so cute!. My mom was riding shotgun – and by the rules of the person riding shotgun – they are the official navigator. It is not the fault of the driver if you get lost – because the shotgun passenger is in charge of directions. My mom couldn’t even figure out which way was North. It’s a good thing I knew where I was going (well… I didn’t know where I was going because I hadn’t been there before – but I had a good idea of at least how to get there!). We go there. It was still raining.
We were hungry – so step one – was complete…we got to Stratford… step two – do a drive by of the theatre… CHECK – step three find a freaking place to eat. Easier said then done. I drove around and found a little diner – it was pretty good. Great service – good food.
Hahaha – but there was a lady. A little old lady – of an age I’d rather not guess. She and her husband walked in moments before me and my gang. She started talking to my mom before we were even able to place our buttocks upon the chairs…close – kind of like how Ellen D. hovers over the chair so the music guy (not Tony but the new guy) doesn’t quite stop playing the music – but is ever so close because she’s a fraction of a hair from sitting – but could also bounce back up and continue dancing…
Anyway – the lady throughout the next hour – does not stop talking. We sometimes interact with her – other times we just let her keep talking and pay no attention to her --- that didn’t bother her though… we learned about why she can’t wear white, that she sold her house but wished she hadn’t… about her favourite places to go in Stratford, etc.. the best part – was that after her husband finished eating – he got up and went to the car and sat there in the drivers seat completing a crossword puzzle while listening to some music….no seriously – its true – they had parked right in front of the restaurant so we had a clear view --- she even laughed about it!!! Once again – didn’t phase her – she kept on talking…
After some food we went to Ontario street – the “main” street. We went into a bunch of shops. The chocolate shop, the toy shop and bunch of other stores. One was the holiday store – the Christmas store to be more specific. AWESOME – my mom loves xmas stuff – plus – we needed to buy a camel! Yes a camel. Every xmas my dad would set up Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, shepards, the wise mine, lambs, ox, and camels. Well – one of the camels broke…. Smashed! I was so upset by this – but we thought surely we’d be able to buy a new one from an xmas store…. My mom was so optimistic walking into this store she got a BUGGY BASKET! We walked out with nothing. NOTHING. We could have bought an assortment of board games or 2008 calendars… yop – that’s holiday stuff! Hahahaha
After this my Nana needed a rest so we went to Tims and sat a bit – then we went to a bookstore – my request. It was a classic old time independently run book store. It was awesome. He had ONE Hemmingway book – that was unfortunate. I did buy a book though – The confessions of the ugly stepsister – I’m very excited to read it.
We shopped some more, went for dinner and that evening headed to the show and had a great time!
After the show we headed back home – via a different route because while driving there I realized a much better route to take. However, this would be a devastating adventure.
After passing through a sliver of London – and just outside of Lobo is when it happened. I still can’t believe it happened.
My mom was telling Laura (for like the 100th time) to sit back in her seat because one time I just might have to SLAM on the breaks and she’d smashed her face on something – or snap her overly weak neck. Although the drive to Stratford was rainy – the return was foggy and muggy (YUCK). Well – at this particular point there were two cars in front of me – none that I could see behind – and no oncoming traffic – and only one lane with which to drive in my direction. Then I saw them – raccoons. UHOH – they aren’t going to cross – they see us – they aren’t stupid. I was wrong… they kept coming – but I couldn’t do anything – I couldn’t swerve to the left – I’d hit the family. I couldn’t swerve to the right – I’d flip the car in a ditch. I couldn’t slam on the breaks because well it wouldn’t really make a difference from hitting the poor guy – but would most likely injure my sister… and well I couldn’t try and drive faster to get out of the way because I’d hit the car ahead of me – so sadly – Jen’s raccoon road-kill Halloween costume now has a friend. Poor fluffy guy.. sniff… I’ve only ever hit one thing before while driving – and I’m only 99% sure I hit it --- and that was a seagull one morning returning home after a shift at AMC. After my Nana telling me I did the best thing with the raccoon situation – a POSSUM comes onto the road – I could swerve to the left this time to miss it thank goodness!
There was more to the story – but that’s enough for now!
We got back home around 2am… I got up early in the morning and returned to Windsor…and now I’m pooped and my eyes are burning – so I’ll be going to bed soon…mmmmm…. Bed…