Freak Magnet Dave

This weekend all of Canada celebrated a day we all know and love that is known as my daughter's first birthday. Oh ya, and Canada Day. This year July 1 fell on a Sunday, so in keeping with government employees everything shuts up tighter than a frog's butt on Monday. In my never-ending endeavour to one-up government workers, I closed my store on Saturday so I got a long weekend too. Brynn's birthday is actually July 4th, but the weekend works much better than a Wednesday to have a party.

Friday night after work I hit to grocery store for a few items I needed so I could make potato salad and a carrot cake for Brynn's birthday party. Yep, boiling, chopping, mixing, baking... that's how I spent my Friday night. SUCH a party animal.

Saturday morning after my walk, I met up with some old friends I haven't seen in many months and then I was off to pick up a couple of last minute gifts for the birthday girl. Got home, iced the cake and headed out to spend the evening with a couple that The Squeeze and I are quite close to. We had a great dinner at their home, played bocce (or if you prefer, bocci), and had a nice bonfire in their back yard. They live out in the country, so the sky above was lit up with stars and it just made me look forward to going up north in August more than I already did.

I got up the next morning, took my walk, wrapped presents, decorated the cake, and The Squeeze and I met up with FWIG for brunch. It was a fun time as always, and surprisingly the place wasn't packed. It normally is, but perhaps with it being a long weekend, people were away. Or it could just be the fact that we got there shortly after they unlocked the door. The church crowd wouldn't be around for at least another hour. I almost felt ripped off because I got full much sooner than I normally would. I should have brought some Tupperware! I totally lost out on the French toast and waffels, not to mention dessert. Oh well, small sacrifices.

After wrapping up brunch and picking up the food and presents at the house, we hopped in the Ark and headed for Weezie's cottage outside of Hooterville for Brynn's party. We made it there about an hour or so before the party was set to start, so we were put to work blowing up balloons and hanging up banners, setting up chairs, etc.

The weather wasn't too bad, but the wind was a bit much at times. Thank God for sweaters and blankets. So much for the idea of setting up a little pool for the kiddies. The kids managed to stay entertained by either running around like lunatics, playing "stick the nose on Elmo", and "let's scare the hell out of everyone by getting too close to the cliff". The Squeeze told me that when he was a toddler his mother put a harness on him and clipped him to the clothes line in the back yard. I think she was on to something.

I wasn't sure how Brynn would handle all of the people there, especially since she didn't sleep on the drive there, but she was amazing. She was all smiles and laughter, and the few times she did fuss, I would just hold her hands while she practiced her walking. I must say, it is SUCH a cool feeling when she is with someone else and starts to fuss, and I walk over to her. She reaches her arms up to me, I pick her up, and she's fine. I love, love, love that! It's that bond that just tugs at my heart.

After The Squeeze finished cooking up the burgers and hotdogs and everyone finished eating, it was time to bring out the cake and have Brynn smash her hand into it and get the first taste. Weezie made a great cake. She made a Winnie the Pooh character cake and it looked awesome.

Even though we let people know it was a party to celebrate her first year of life and that we were NOT looking for presents, many people chose to ignore that request. OK, ya, so did I. So what? Thankfully she got a lot of clothes instead of toys because Weezie's house looks like a Toys R Us. OK, I got her a couple of toys, but I couldn't resist. The coolest thing I got her was this pair of shoes. Apparently they really encourage kids to walk because kids like the squeak they hear every time they step. Weezie said that when she put them on her the next day to try them out, Brynn would take a step and look behind her to see what was squeaking. She said it was hilarious.

We got the cottage cleaned up and un-decorated and closed up in record time after everyone left. Weezie's SUV could hardly handle all of the stuff she had to pack back up, including two kids and her mother. We got my Ark packed up as well, and even took three full garbage bags with us rather than leave them behind to be ripped apart by animals before they got picked up. As I walked toward the Ark with the garbage, I yelled back to Weezie before driving off, "Thanks for the loot bags!" I crack me up.

After arriving back at home, The Squeeze, FWIG and I relaxed for a bit and decided to go to one of the local Canada Day fireworks celebrations. Since FWIG knows someone who has a business near where the fireworks were taking place, we had no problem getting parking. Getting out and clear of the area where they took place was another story. It took longer to get out of the gridlock than the whole fireworks display lasted.

The holiday Monday was fairly laid back. The Squeeze joined me on a short walk, and we toured a garden that we wanted to see which was open to the public that day. We visited the kids in the afternoon, and came home for dinner and relaxed for a bit.

I was surprised this morning again when I stepped on the scale. I was sure that after this weekend of brunch, burgers and birthday cake that I may have gone the other way, but as of this morning, I am down 60 pounds in total. WooHoo! Thirteen more to go and I lose the word "morbidly". Then I will be "severely" obese. Ahh...music to my ears. Thirty seven after that and I'll merely be obese. I'm keeping my beefy fingers crossed.