Sneak Peek

Harry Potter fans, this one's for you!

Better Than Babysitter's Club!

Here I am, home after another adventure!

I spent 7 days in Denver with my best friends. We met up after the 4 of us had been scattered in 3 different countries for the past few years - Canada, America, and Northern Ireland. The reason for our reunion: to spend time with Michelle, who is halfway through her chemotherapy in her fight against breast cancer.

You can't get much more movie-like than that. Megs and I joked that a documentary of our week together would be a hit on W Network or some other cheesy network that sells sentimentality.

Day 1:
Megs and I checked our bags and headed to the long line for US Customs. I was praying for a semi-friendly customs officer who would ask few questions (ask me about the last time I went through US Customs at Pearson... NOT COOL!), and that's exactly what I got. We breezed through the security checks, and flew to Detroit. Surprisingly, the airport there wasn't awful at all. There were lots of stores, and even a spa where you could get a 15 minute chair massage for $15. We snacked a little, cursing Northwest airlines for not providing any free food on our flights, and boarded our connecting flight to Denver. This flight was about 3 hours long, and with no food, music, or movies, we were only too happy to get off the plane. To get to baggage claim, we had to take a funny little train through the other concourses. It played weird circus music everytime the doors opened and closed.

We got off the train, and ran towards the smiling faces of Michelle and Deb for big group hugs. It was SO awesome to see them again, and that all of us were together in the same place at the same time. I'd missed this very very much. We waited for our luggage (my suitcase took forever to come out), and headed to the house where Michelle is living. I couldn't help but notice that I couldn't see the mountains as we were driving. Apparently they like to hide at night.

We got to the house and settled in. We met the Warren family, who lives in the house, and their 3 happy animals - Angel and Gabe (cats), and Sadie (puppy). We became friends right away.


Day 2:
After a great sleep in a super comfy bed, we had breakfast together, and slowly got ready for the day. Michelle was working at the YWAM base in the morning, and we met her there for lunch. After lunch, the rest of us headed off to pick up some groceries for the week. Michelle still had to work, which meant that I had to drive the car. This car was awesome - a fully loaded Jetta! But it also meant that I had to drive stick, which I'd sort of only done once before in my entire life. I managed to get us around without pissing any other drivers off (Denver is much kinder than Toronto). I only stalled about 6 times, and got caught on an inclined driveway coming out from a plaza, but Deb and I pulled a Chinese fire drill, and she got us out. The guy behind us was just laughing the entire time.

Michelle's legs were feeling very sore, thanks to her last round of chemo. But she was feeling up to going out in the afternoon, so we got in the car and drove to Red Rocks. It was pretty awesome to look at, but you can only look at big red rocks for so long. We saw the amphitheatre there, where lots of bigtime acts have played. We took lots of pictures, and moved on.



We went for a nice drive through the mountains, and ended up in a tiny little town called Evergreen. Not much to see, but we stopped in at an interesting shop, and had tea and chocolates at a cute little cafe.

The day ended with a nice dinner at home, and some white wine. Perfect.


Day 3:


Destination - Boulder! Michelle said this was the #1 party city in the country, due to the crazy college kids, but all we saw were people wearing Birkenstocks, The North Face gear, and walking dogs. Either way, we ended up at a beautiful Tajik tea house for lunch. I ordered the Green Sea Anemone tea, which "blooms" in the hot water. They served it in a wine glass, and it was really pretty to look at! It tasted like a very strong green tea, which was also nice.




Despite eating all my Thai peanut noodles, I was feeling a bit off that day. Denver is the "mile high city", and the altitude was making me feel a little dehydrated, tired, short of breath and slightly nauseous. All I could do was drink lots of water and keep moving - it was the only thing that helped.

We browsed through a lot of cute little shops, and headed back to the house for dinner and a movie. We made a couple pizzas, and watched Nacho Libre. I definitely laughed a LOT that night!


Day 4:
Wow, was it ever hot outside! It was about 20 degrees, and absolutely sunny. There were zero clouds in the sky, and I was wishing I'd brought some summer clothes along.

Today was doctor day. Michelle had an appointment with her surgeon, and I was glad we were able to go with her. I was even happier that I was asked to come into the examination room with her - it would be good to hear firsthand what her surgeon had to say about her progress. She had great news for us. Michelle's chemo is going very well, and her huge tumor has shrunken very significantly. For safety's sake, Michelle will still be undergoing a double masectomy 5-6 weeks after her last chemo this winter. Her reconstruction might be a little more complicated in terms of timing and funding, so we'll wait to see what options are available to her.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Coors Factory for a brewery tour! None of us are huge fans of Coors beer, but it was fun. Plus, they gave each of us 3 free 8-ounce glasses of beer... free beer for FREE! That sure was a lot of beer, and some of it was actually quite nice. I learned very quickly that beer and altitude are a crazy combination for me!


In the evening, we decided to head out to Indian Springs in the town of Idaho Springs, 30 minutes west of Denver. In all honesty, the place was pretty creepy. I wouldn't have been entirely surprised if zombies popped out of the deserted looking houses and stores. We had dinner at the on-site bar at the resort - the most stereotypically trashy American bar you could possibly imagine. Then it was off to the hot springs to soak in some natural hot spring water. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite like a mandatorily naked bathing experience in a cave full of hot water with 3 of your best friends. But the water was nice, had all sorts of minerals in it that were good for Michelle, and we had fun. The hot water was really relaxing, and we all slept well that night.


Day 5:
Shopping day! There's so much good stuff in the States that we can't get in the great nation of Canada, so we hit up a bunch of stores in particular - Target (so many bargains, so good!), Ross (like Winners on steroids), and Bath and Body Works were great ways for us to stimulate the local economy.

For dinner, we got dressed up to go to a nice Brazilian restaurant in downtown Denver. The Rodizio Grill is an amazing place. Each table gets this little wooden block with a red end and a green end. When you turn the green side up, servers with huge skewers of meat of every kind come to the table to put some on your plate. When you turn the red side up, it means "Please stop, I need a break!" I ate a LOT of meat that night, and every bit of it was delicious. We went to a jazz bar for drinks afterwards. Aren't we classy?!



I definitely had a meat dream that night - I dreamt that I met John Mayer and he fell in love with me.
I wouldn't mind having meat dreams every night, actually.


Day 6:
Deb was going back to Ireland today. We drove her to the airport late in the morning. It was sad to see her go, as usual, but it was nice to know that she'll be home for good in the summer.

The rest of the day was really laid back. We hung out at Starbucks and had some sushi for lunch. Meghan and I went to pick up some groceries to make hot egg sandwich for dinner (a delicious classic!). After dinner, we headed out to the movie theatre to watch Stranger Than Fiction. I definitely recommend seeing it... it was fabulous! It was even better once the stupid kids sitting in front of us left part of the way through. All they did during the movie was text message their friends, with their cell phones flashing in my eyes. Sheesh.


Day 7:
Sadly, we were going home today. After making sure all our things were packed properly (including our many purchases from a few days ago), we loaded up the car and headed out to brunch. The good ol' IHOP did not disappoint - their portions were still huge, and the food was ever greasy.

We said goodbye to Michelle at the airport. Sad that we were leaving her, but glad to know that we'd probably see her again in the spring.

All in all, it was a great week. It meant a lot to us to spend some time together, see how Michelle was doing, and reassurring to see that she was living in a very supportive and comfortable environment with great people. I have high hopes that she's going to come out of this cancer ordeal more than fine. But that's Michelle for you- she rocks. : )


Random facts:

• I was shocked that Denver doesn't recycle! At least, the areas that I hung out in didn't have any recycling. Why wouldn't they want to protect the environment, when the one they live in is so cool?
• The Rockies in Colorado aren't quite as impressive as I thought they would be. They're rather brown, and the areas all around are pretty flat. I hear that the Canadian Rockies are far more majestic... I'll have to see for myself one day!
• The most overplayed song on the radio while we drove: My Love, Justin Timberlake.
• Toronto really is the most beautiful city to fly over at night.
• DC-9 airplanes are friggin noisy.
• I'm pretty sure I saw about 5 black people, and a handful of Asian people if I include the nice people who worked at the sushi restaurant and myself.
• It was impossible to find a decent block of Havarti cheese at the local Safeway.
• Colorado folk think that our Ontario driver's licenses are "pretty".
• Meghan told the Safeway cashier that we didn't need the Safeway card because we lived in Canada. The Safeway lady's response was: "Well, they can be used all over the country..." Classic.
  

Smart. S-M-R-T?

I was cleaning out my email inbox today, and I stumbled across this...

Try it out! It took me a long time to get it, but I got it.

Good luck!


* Edit: It's a Japanese intelligence test... so it's not in English. Here are the instructions:

The following rules apply:

* Only 2 persons on the raft at a time.

* The father can not stay with any of the daughters, without their mother's presence.

* The mother can not stay with any of the sons, without their father's presence.

* The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member, if the Policeman is not there

* Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft.

* To start click on the big blue circle on the right.

* To move the people click on them

* To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the
river.

My bad, Parke. Sorry about the confusion! :)

Next up:

I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, so I thought it was about time to write something. Plus, the collage in the last entry is taking up way too much room, and I hate the way it's overlapping with the links on the right side of the screen. Ugly!

So, it's been an insane week at work already, and it's only Wednesday. Things feel chaotic in my head, even though they probably aren't really that bad. Maybe it's exhaustion, or the fact that it's dark outside when I have to be out of bed, or the thought of having to face several groups of people all day every day. In any case, the weeks seem to go by really slowly these days. And not necessarily in a good way, either.

Translation: I need a vacation.

Luckily, I have one to look forward to! In just 4 days, I will be on a plane headed towards Denver, Colorado for the reunion to end all reunions. It's been years since the 4 of us long-time friends have been in the same country at the same time, let alone in the same room - Deb's been in Ireland, Michelle's been down in Denver, and Meghan and I have been holding down the fort here in the good ol' GTA. I'm incredibly excited to be getting away for a little while. I'm ready for mountains, hot springs, horses, outlet malls, and serious quality time with my girls. It'll be better than any Babysitter's Club reunion, mark my words.

The next obstacle to face: AAMC applications that are due at the end of November.
The exciting event to look forward to during that guaranteed to be stressful time: the Leafs Skills Competition on Dec. 3rd. I got tickets today... hooray for presales!