Well, maybe vacation isn't exactly the proper word, as I actually haven't had any vacation days, but I did get away from The City a couple times, and have been shamelessly using a few sick days for just hanging out with the gang down at The Pub and for reading, people watching and drinking coffee on the front stoop all by my lonesome.
Although there were some 'downer' days the past couple months, due to work, deaths, and a stolen kayak, among other things, I have pledged to keep this update a positive one. Just to throw you all off your rockers a little bit.
My camping trip way back at the beginning of July was absolutely wonderful, and I have been wanting to head back out into the bush ever since. We acquired ourselves a beautiful group camping area at the back of the campground, and without the worry of bothering neighboring campers, we were all quite relaxed, and spent our evenings drinking and listening to music and having more than enough belly-laughs. My camp stove only set the picnic table on fire once, GQ and Red only had one loud lover's quarrel, we had a lovely afternoon at the beach, and the footballs and frisbees were ever present. It was heaven. I can hardly wait until next year. :)
The whole month of July zipped by at warp speed. No matter what I did, I just couldn't slow it down. Fortunatly though, the weather was wonderful for the most part, and I enjoyed more than my fair share of lazy afternoons reading in the sunshine, followed by pints with the Pub Gang. Sure, we spent too much time, money and energy drinking beer on that slanted little patio, but I refuse to feel guilty about laughing, crying and story-telling all afternoon with my favorite folk. I was able to achieve a fabulous tan and acquire a few new friends to debate with.
July was also Festival Month here in The City. Although I couldn't get the time off to travel to the Ness Creek festival like I had planned, I took in some of the Flatlands Festival (which was so-so....I'm sorry, but I really miss the old FlatLands Music Fest! ), and had a heck of a good time at our annual Folk Fest, which I must say, was probably the best one in years. (although I have never once been disappointed in all the years that I have been attending it.) I was horribly disappointed about missing Sarah Slean, but Sara Harmer, Ron Sexsmith, The Good Brothers and the Sadies made me feel much better. I'll just have to catch Sarah next time she's in town.
On a gossipy note, John Corbett has been in town all summer filming a movie, and he has been amazing eye-candy and fantasy material for me. I hope he never leaves. Ok, that sounded stalker-ish, but I assure you I have neither the time, nor the energy to properly stalk minor celebrities. But he sure is pretty, even with the porn star mustache.
At the beginning of August, GQ, Shabby and I headed up to Small Town for the Centennial celebrations. It was a rushed, blitzkreig of a trip, and I wish that I had had more time to spend back home. There were relatives and friends galore kicking around, and unfortunatly, there just wasn't enough time to visit all of them, the way I had hoped I would. It was especially nice to see my mothers family, as I only get to see them every few years, and I can only hope that they were not horrified by my incredible state of drunkeness after my night in the beer gardens. I tried to be on my best behaviour, and I had a fantastic time, and lucky for them, I camped in the backyard. There are less objects to stumble into in the out of doors, so it was probably a good plan to keep my drunken ass outside.
The last couple weeks have been full of fun. Thanks to the Canada Games entertainment, there was rockin' music pumping in my window every evening. My favorite couple, Schmutzie and Palinode had a delightful housewarming party, complete with appetizers and a live performance by 54-40. My oldest and dearest friend RockStar came for one final summer visit, which is always a great time...his visits just make my day, whenever they happen! TypicalQuirk celebrated her b-day with a bash at the House of Pain this past weekend. And to top it all off, my dear friend Pete has moved back to The City and surprised me with a quick visit yesterday afternoon.
And finally, my long drawn out run of singlehood has come to a close. A couple of weeks ago I met a lovely man, whom for now I will just call The Boy, and we have been spending quite a bit of time together, and so far, nothing too terribly tragic has happened, so wish me luck.
Well, I guess that is my summer, short and sweet. Life is good. So good, that I won't even harp on the fact that summer is coming to a close whether you like it or not, or that I saw my first orange/brown leaves just this morning while waiting for the bus. Nope, I'm gonna try and be as positive as I can be today.
