Late Twenties

Yesterday was my 27th Birthday. Were does time go. Think back to high school. How far away does 27 seem then? I graduated at 17 years old. "What do you think you will be doing ten years from now" is a common question. I am married to a man that I love and is my best friend. I have established myself and am very successful in a career that I chose, that I love and have proved to many (that I am sure doubted) that I could earn a living working in professional theatre. I have a house that is everything I could have hoped for, that I am slowly decorating to my taste. I have a little puppy who loves me unconditionally. I have a family that loves me and will make the effort to drive to Calgary to see us, to the city we chose that took us away from that very family. Family that have been brought together by our marriage, that don't have to see each other except when Logan and I ask them to be, that will hang out together, go for drinks or go to concerts together. I think that the 17 year old me would be very happy with where I am at now.

My birthday was fantastic. The weather was the best it has been...maybe all summer. As I had mentioned in the last post we sat on the deck in the heat all day. Logan pulled out the pool and we had a great time watching Charlie and Robyn. After our classy meal of McDonald's I opened up some presents.

Logan got me the newest and coolest in scrapbooking, a Cricut Cutter. I have been asking for one for a bit, doing my research and trying to find the best deal. It is like a printer but works without a computer. You select the shape/letter/design and insert paper and the machine cuts it out in any size. Very intricate shapes and letters. I am very excited. Everyone watch out, homemade cards are on their way for years to come.


Leah and Marc headed on to the family they were here to visit and Mom, Dad, Logan and I had supper before heading over to Meagan and Stef's place for my party. All I knew was that they were working their tails off...no idea on what. It was a Musical Themed Party. I was very excited. Not many people I hang with now know the musical side of me. It was a huge part of my life for so many years. It is primarily the music I listen to by myself. It was great to let that side of me out for the night.


Everyone was dressed up as someone from a musical. They even were able to steal my Marty costume from "Grease" that was hanging in my guest room closet. They had it there ready for me to wear it. (It was a bit warm, but you can see my pink ladies jacket on the chair).
Logan, Sonny from "Grease".

Dad went as a Greaser.

As you can see from the comments below, I was corrected (and apparently uninformed or not a very good guesser) Mom went as one of the ladies from the new musical 9 to 5.

The Hosts of the Party Stef and Meagan, along with Raveigh dressed as Diamond Dogs from "Moulin Rouge".

Cris dressed as Ash from "Evil Dead: The Musical". (He was not the only one, Ruby Dawn arrived later in the same outfit - only she had just spent three months working on the show)

Meagan's Mom May also attended as Annie Oakley from "Annie Get Your Gun". It was great that she came, we have been doing a circuit workout two/three times a week (Meagan leads May, Stef, Auntie Shelley, Rackhee and a couple other friends of Meagan's).
They went all out with the details. Music playing all night.

Mom made Sangria, the girls had Pink Lady Punch, Technicolour Shots, Carousel Jello Shooters.

And a whole table of food.

Yellow Brick Road out of cheddar cheese, A Taste of Siam eggrolls,
Oliver olives, Diamonds are a girls best friend Veggie Diamonds from "Moulin Rouge" and my favorite the Venus Fly Trap Audrey Two made out of pickles.
And desserts, Rumblin' Sharks Gummies from "West Side Story", and Phantom cupcakes.

And This is my boomstick "Evil Dead" cake.

I had such a good time.

A little fABBAulous bubbly ala "Momma Mia"
They even had a game (because "what Stacey party would be complete without planned activities"). They had a crazy difficult Musical Quiz. I didn't do very well. The questions were so detailed, but great. I even had to perform.

So Long, Farewell from "The Sound of Music"

The Hand Jive from "Grease".

With Meagan and May you will also see Rakhee who also does the circuit training dressed up from "Bombay Dreams" and Craig as Roger from "Rent".

I opened up some great, extremely thoughtful gifts.

Ate a delicious cake, Chocolate with Raspberry center.

After cake we went out for a fire. It was a beautiful night, still very warm. Not at all like a normal Calgary night.

Ruby Dawn as Ash from "Evil Dead". She joined us in time for cake a the fire.

I wasn't the only one that enjoyed myself. Stef and Meagan dancing to each other through the kitchen window.

A visit

Stampede started July 2nd and we were there. Sneak a Peak night is Thursday and a friend of ours band "Seventh Rain" was playing at the coke stage. Logan and I met up with Jen and her cousin as well as Lindsay and Dan to watch the show. They were the opening act and after meeting up with Phil the drummer we moved into the Cantina next to the stage for a drink where we were met by Nicolle Montague, a friend from Regina, and her boyfriend Brad who is a friend of Dan's.

We had planned on going again a couple of times that week but the weather was so bad that I wasn't interested.

Matt flew into Calgary on Wednesday afternoon and we had an opportunity to catch up.

Mom and Dad drove in Thursday after work.

We all went out to Stampede on Friday night. It was busy as hell as it was the first nice day during all of Stampede. We walked about, checking out the sights, sounds and food. And ended up at that same Cantina by the coke stage.

Saturday Mom and Dad went to the George Strait concert (the reason for the trip). We took Matt out for a drink.

While everyone was together, something extremely rare these days, we took some family photos.

Sunday we had the entire Uncle Gord family over for dinner. We cooked up Rotisserie BBQ Roast Beef (that I marinated overnight and was delicious) and all of the fixings, including a spinach strawberry salad from my garden. Sangria was the cocktail of choice.

Did took it easy for the rest of the week. Matt went home on Monday. Logan went off to work. Mom and Dad and I hung out. It was nice, relaxing and different from most of the usually "jam it into 3 days" kind of trips.

On one of our days we went out shopping. I wanted to look at vacuums. Our current vacuum is broken. The plate on the bottom is plastic and broke off and if you aren't careful the bristles will burn into the floor (kinda like I did to the lino in the bathroom). I wanted something that I could use on the hardwood as our whole main floor is wood. But doing my research I learned that what most vacuums consider a "bare floor" function can actually scratch the wood. This function just lowers the vacuum to the floor, even if you stop the brush it will still brush along the floor. I wanted something that was just as good for floor and carpet. If you want that you are looking at $600. So we started looking at a hardwood vacuum and a carpet vacuum. Try to find something reasonable without bells and whistles. We were successful.

Bissell Versus for the hardwood. Build exclusively for bare floors and low pile area rugs.

For the carpet we found this Bissell Healthy Home. It was the floor model, no box and missing the bristle tool and "turbo brush". A $350 vacuum that we bought for $160. It was awesome that Mom and Dad picked this up as an addition to our Anniversary gifts. They also brought with them padded folding chairs (that we have used every day since they brought them) and a handmade (by mom) Afghan.

On Wednesday night Logan's Uncle Earl was in town. He came over, as well as Lindsay and Dan, and he cooked us BBQ Greek Ribs. It was another great meal.

On Thursday Leah and Marc and their little one Robyn joined us. They were just here for the night and Friday. Leah and I were friends from University and Marc and Dan were friends from University. Lindsay and Dan joined us for drinks after supper. We had a nice night of visiting.

Friday, My Birthday, we hung out on the deck. The first really hot day in weeks. We pulled out the kiddie pool and Robyn and Charlie had a great time. The birthday girls request of a classy meal of McDonald's was a birthday lunch.

Banff roadtrip

Yesterday we took a little road trip to Banff. The actors in the show are from Toronto and have not been to the mountains. Logan and I took our car and loaded up the back seat with Alec (my apprentice), Rosie (the technician) and Mark (Mikey).

We finished our noon show and hoped in the car. Our first stop was at the Gondola. When we left Calgary the weather network said that Banff was clear. It looked it from the highway. As we pulled up it started to look a bit overcast in one direction, but not bad. As we rode up the gondola is got foggy. From the top of the mountain it was relatively clear to the north (the direction of this picture). But off the south side it was a thick wall - couldn't even see next mountain. It was also very cold. But we walked from the observation tour to the peak of Sulphur Mountain. It was a cold walk, the wind picked up like crazy. But it was worth it.
(This image is from the web, I didn't take my camera).

Then we walked around Banff. Had some dinner at St. James Gate Pub. Bought some fudge at The Fudgery, some candy at Welch's and some tea from the Banff Tea company.

After walking around we went to the Hot Springs.

Always a good time. Mark was hilarious and wore the historic swim suit. They didn't feel right taking a photo in the dressing room so there is no record. But it was funny. It had a skirt, or "modesty sash" if you will.

Edmonton

:: Wednesday ::

Nicole and Kenn stopped over in Calgary on their way to Vegas. We had a little dinner and played a little Wii. They gave us a new game as a house warming gift, Boom Blox. It was fun.

:: Thursday ::

After some early morning breakfast we saw Nicole and Kenn off and back to bed.

Then a quick pack and in the car with the little puppy.

He was very good. He sat or slept in his kennel the entire time, didn't complain once.

We had a fabulous dinner at Lindsay and Dan's, a nice long walk in the river valley and spent the night after a few Strongbows.

:: Friday ::

Lindsay and Dan went off to work and we slept in. We headed off to the West Edmonton Mall, mostly for something to do. There ended up being some great deals; bought a couple t-shirts from a Jacob clearance store, some essentials batteries and wrapping paper, but most importantly a bridesmaids dress for Kendra's wedding. (photo to follow).

Logan, Charlie and I checked into the hotel. We wanted to hang out there for a bit to let Charlie get comfortable. I don't think it was too much of a struggle.

Stef rolled into town at 6:30 and we picked up Jonathan and went out for dinner with Lindsay and Dan. Then back to the hotel, where Jason and Jenn were waiting.

:: Saturday ::

The wedding. Matt and Kim Royer. Logan met Matt at the Bay Sunridge when he first got his internal position here. Since he and Kim got together we have hung out with them a couple of times - including a great weekend in Canmore.

Ceremony in St. Albert.

Matt is a cop in Edmonton and he wore his Dress Uniform.

I love this photo. It is very blurry - but also very graphic. Back to the hotel for a quick beer and a sit down before the reception. This is us waiting for the van taxi we ordered. We requested it for 5:45. After it was five minutes late we called to confirm/order another. At 5:45 the next morning they called our room to tell us our cab was here. Lame.Cool Cake.They are a very fun couple and chose to enter their reception to the song "Bringing Sexy Back" It was very fun.Tyler was a groomsman. This was his entrance to "Bringing Sexy Back" First Dance - and a peek at the back of her gorgeous dress.Garder TossBouquet TossImpromptu Dance with the bride and the Groomsmen. After a great time (and an open bar) we returned to the hotel expecting the worst. It was the longest time he had ever been alone - from 5:45 to 1:30. But there were no accidents, just a pile of shredded something in his bed. But he was ready to play. He discovered that he was big enough to jump up on the beds as well as from bed to bed.

:: Sunday ::

After our 5:45 am call from the front desk we managed to sleep till ten, pack up the mess we had made of our two adjoining room and check out by noon. After breakfast at Tim Horton's the rest of the gang headed home while Stef, Logan and I went to Jonathan's.

We had a mellow afternoon (Jonathan had a big night too) and watched Knocked Up. Then the four of us drove out to Sherwood Park to visit my Auntie Alma and Uncle Paul (actually my dad's aunt and uncle). Cousin Carla and her family also joined for supper.

Jonathan got Koen all riled up. And Koen got Charlie all riled up. While Charlie was playing with Koen he made the most noise he has ever made. He made play growling noises and quiet barks - just like a regular dog.

Little Kaeleigh. The last time we saw her she was just a couple days old. It has been a while since we had seen the family. Kids grow really fast.

We had a fantastic dinner and then had to drive home. A great long weekend.