Weekend Showers

Surprisingly, I’m not actually referring to the crappy summer climate. While the weekend weather was somewhat erratic, it actually didn’t rain! The showers I am referring to are of the wedding and baby extraction.

September is gearing up to be quite an eventful month. My brother is getting married on September 6th and one of our closest set of friends is expecting their first baby boy on the 17th. These are exciting times and thus, you guessed it, very busy!

Saturday morning was spent baking les petits madeleines and hand-dipping each cookie in chocolate…perhaps a little too enterprising for 8:00 AM. I was in a rush to prepare things for my Sister-In-Law’s bridal shower that afternoon and didn’t even stop to contemplate the consequences of “not” letting the chocolate harden on wax paper. I dipped the cookies, put them on a plate to cool and had a lovely time trying to rip the little buggers off an hour later after the chocolate had hardened to the surface. In true French spirit I shrugged, grunted “Merde!” a few times, salvaged what I could and headed out the door.

With the cookie fiasco behing me, I enjoyed the afternoon basking in the sunshine during the shower . The party was held outdoors by an old friend of bride's family. Despite the heat and subsequent sunburns, we had a nice time; it was a good opportunity for me to meet most of the female side of her family. They appear to be a fun bunch and I have to doubt that the wedding will be pretty lively…quite the contrast to my small family. Speaking of relations, I was unfortunately the only representative from my family as Mom still isn’t well enough to stay out of the house for long periods of time. She feels terrible for not being able to participate in more of the wedding excitement but I suppose the timing of these things cannot be helped. Hopefully with a few more weeks of rest and physiotherapy, she’ll be mobile enough to stroll up the aisle. Sadly, the process of recovery is very slow.

While I was hanging with the gals, hubby was off golfing with my brother and the bride’s many male relatives. I’m proud to say that he survived the full 18-hole course, despite the fact that he hasn’t been out to play or practice yet this year. I’m fairly certain that he and bro were the weakest links of the lot but they both came back with smiles on their faces so I gather that they had a good time swinging clubs, drinking beer and generally behaving like guys. In the end we all met up for a big BBQ back at the bride’s parents’ house. It was a fun by tiring day; I think we were collectively pooped from all that sun and overindulgence.

Being the absolute troopers that we are (or lunatics…you decide), hubby and I capped off the evening by heading to a house-warming party in the opposite end of the city. I have to admit that I was getting a little crabby by this point so our presence was short-lived. Yup…even I have my energy limitations!

Sunday, a supposed day of rest, was bit of a rinse and repeat for hubby and I. The morning was spent cleaning the house and our afternoon involved stuffing our faces at a baby shower. It was nice to finally be able to attend a co-ed shower together. I personally find the old "women-only" tradition a bit strange. Men have every right to be involved in baby showers and I know many guys and fathers that are equally excited by children and all related cute accoutrements. When our day comes, Dan and I definitely plan to experience the fun together!

Following the shower, we raced back to the other end of the city for our regularly scheduled volleyball game. I am happy to report that we two out of three games and have managed to hold onto our 4th place position heading into the semi-finals. We still have a chance at a"medal" standing – very exciting.

The weekend was topped off in usual style - a sandy/grubby return to the local pub to celebrate our victory, watch the Olympics and brush up on our skills by studying the seasoned beach volleyball pros. We don’t have their talent, but as this weekend may prove, we could very well have their stamina.