It was raining, but it didn't matter. We headed to Costco and Jen bought some steaks for the Friday evening BBQ at my parents' place.
I brought her back to Bruce's house where I'm staying while here. Bruce works on construction up north so I got to see him for the first weekend I was here (he was sick that weekend otherwise he would have been gone the day I arrived). We set her up, showed her around, relaxed a bit, then about 3:30 headed over to my parents'. We spent an hour or so before people started to come over, chatting, laughing, drinking wine, etc.
Here is who was there:
My Mom and Dad (2)
Jen and I (2)
Darrell and his four amazing kids (5)
Aunt Marion and Bob (2)
Victor our neighbour (1)
Brad and Nancy (2)
We had a great dinner, and a fantastic party that ended about 1am. The rain stopped early on in the late afternoon so it was OK to move outside, however everything was set up in the basement, so that is where we spent most of our time.
Jen loved everyone and everyone loved her. We all got along like a house full of friendly Manitobans. Even though I kept adding people to the invite list which made her more and more nervous as the day of her arrival approached (she CLAIMS she's shy... HA!), she pulled it off spectacularly! She was amazing the way she made everyone comfortable, and feel really at home with her. I loved watching Jen engage all of my friends and family as if she has always known them. Hell I just love watching Jen do anything since she's so frikkin hawt!
On Saturday I took Jen first to Osborne Village which is an eclectic place that has a lot of little shops, and other such stuff. We ate lunch at Baked Expectations, wandered around, did grocery shopping, had coffee, and just basked in each other's aura.
Then we headed to "The Forks" which is a historic site at the juncture of the two main rivers that run through the city. It has been turned into a very neat marketplace with shops, buskers, restaurants, outdoor skating (winter), boat docks, and more. We enjoyed the time spent there walking, looking, laughing, talking.
On Sunday I took Jen out to Assiniboine Park (it has the same design as Central Park in NYC). We drove around, saw the English Garden, a statue garden, the botanical gardens, and then met Darrell at 7pm for an amazing free blues concert in the park. We had a fantastic time.After it ended about 9pm we three came back to Bruce's house. I prepared some dinner as we were all hungry. We sat, talked about a lot of things, drank a bottle and a half of Darrell's absolutely fantastic wine, and then about 1.30 Darrell went home, and we hit the sack.
On Monday Jen baked three sweet potato pies. We took one out to Brad & Nancy's place, then sat on their dock in the Red River and chatted for an hour or two. Then we all got in our cars and drove out to Lockport, a well-known place that boats need to traverse locks in order to go from one part of the river to the other part. We had some "world famous Skinner's Hotdogs", and then drove back into town to my parents'. On the way back I got to show Jen my old stomping grounds, the high/junior/elementary schools I went to, the parks I played in, and more. When we got back to my parents' home we had coffee with them and Jen gave them a pie. They loved it! Then we went through the gate in the back fence and took another pie to Victor, chatted with him for a bit, then came back to the house.
On Tuesday morning Jen packed up, and we drove back to the airport. We snogged our teary-eyed farewells for now. She jumped on the 11am flight, and the rest is her story!
Jen, I am so grateful that you came to visit me while I am here in North America. I really appreciate you so much for taking the time and the money to do that for me, and my dad, and my mom. Thank you from waaay deep down inside of me. I don't know when we will meet again next, but something tells me we will. This is our relationship; this is our friendship. And I cherish, appreciate, and am so grateful that The Universe (and you, and me) provided us with each and every opportunity we have to meet as we move through our lives, our ups and downs, our individual trials and tribulations, our joys and sorrows.I love you!
Cam
P.S. My friend Michelle visited me yesterday. I showed her the photos I had taken of Jen and she said to me, "Jen is HOW OLD? No Way! Holy Fuck! Way to go, sistah!"
Hey!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stoppin on my blogging...
Poopiehead!
Good thing i love you!
Now i gotta push through my splitting headache ad get somthing pulled together.
though... you pretty much said it all
Will do a photo montage maybe.
We'll see.
Thank YOU, Cameron!
ReplyDeleteAnd thank your parents, and thank your friends, and thank all your friends who made me feel so welcome and.... like one of the family.
I love Winnipeg... I love your friends and family...
and...
I LOVE FRIENDLY MANITOBA!!!!!
Got my blog up too. Seeya over there.
Awwwwwwww you guys are sooooooooooooooooo sweet!!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's clear you enjoyed each other's company and I've got all good feelings now =D
And well you should, Deb because I exuuuuuude snugglies, teddy bear cuddles, lovie pies and irresistible pheromones.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jen! I am so glad you came! You are the highlight of my trip so far!!
ReplyDeleteyep...i missed reading you guys :) have a good evening neighbour :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you were able to visit Jen, and that you and Cam got to raid his parents place... causing a ruckus and laughter.... and a great reason to bring friends and family over to the Switzer household..... Oh and FYI... 29 is NOT OLD... right Jen???
ReplyDelete"29" forever Paula. And if I might say so myself, you don't look a day over "29" either! I love you! Sorry you couldn't come and visit as well. I really was looking forward to more copious quantities of snogging with you, too!
ReplyDeleteWell... next time you come I will make the trek... I want your dad to BBQ for me too, and I wish to drink all of your friends wine...LOL I can be charming, and I am also housebroken so your brother won't mind.
ReplyDeleteI am heading to my hometown next week... should be interesting!
Just read Jens experience n very please to say they both matched up...lmbao
ReplyDeleteyou guys are the best....i love you both....you are both a breath of fresh air to a jaded mind....so glad you had brill times...you go getters of life you
Cam snuggle are great. Love them. HUGGGGGSSSS coming in your general direction. A couple hit Jen on the way to Cam
ReplyDeleteaw you all rock love ya!x
ReplyDeleteThat is just the coolest thing ever. Really. :) It's so nice to see you happy like that.
ReplyDeleteThanks Erin. And you put a smile on my face by just being here!
ReplyDeleteJools - Thanks! We rock, and so do you!
Rachel - Your hugs can rival mine, Baby.
Di - Whew... glad they matched up... not something that happens often when comparing a man's and a woman's perspective... Guess I lucked out on this one.
Paula - It's a deal! Good luck with your home town visit. I love you!
**sigh**
ReplyDeletei have this fuzzy warm feeling all over now
:-)
*hands duckie a razor*
ReplyDeletefunnneee tehe
ReplyDeleteCame back for another peep at that photo up top... such cuties!
ReplyDeleteI love you, Mou!
Best to Mom & Dad!
Kimono?
ReplyDeleteLMAO...
ReplyDeleteOne-track-mind Iggy!
Too funny
Can I admit that I got misty eyed reading this... what a fantastic blog BUT more than that.. how beautifuly you expressed yr true feelings for an obvioulsy well loved friend. Excellent.. Angie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angie!
ReplyDeletePlease, Sir, may I have some more?
ReplyDeleteWhat!?!?!? Moah?!?!?!? Moah Snugglies?!?!?!?
ReplyDeleteOf course. *snuggles in for a long winter's night*
ReplyDeleteDon't you hate when people mix metaphors?