August Recap!

What a crazy summer!  It flew by - who knows what happened to August because I blinked and it was gone!  I packed in a lot of fun events as well as lots of work and pool time!

- We are still plugging along with the Civic Awards - we have been busy working on new awards and re-writing the bylaws as the mayor and town council want huge changes for next year's awards.  My ideas are to have agriculture, beautification and wildlife awards....basically we need to create categories for more people to fit into.

- Our town has a bandshell in the park (we are so small town there is a baby Jesus in it at Christmastime) and all summer they have concerts on Thursday nights.  Lots of people go to sit in the park and listen to the music, each week is a different style of music.  I took the Little Prince to see the swing band and he loved it...but then he does have my taste in music.  We took a blanket and a little picnic and picked a spot on the grass to lounge and be entertained!

- 50kms north of us is a much bigger city so we go there for shopping, there is a big mall, Costco, Sbux and lot's more.  We love making a whole day of it so we took the Little Prince to the zoo up there which is free and small enough for a 3 year old to manage.  We took a picnic lunch and wandered around looking at the meercats, otters, camels and ostriches.  Once we were finished there we made all of our shopping stops and bought everything we need to fill the freezer.

- We took the Little Prince to see the Smurfs movie.  I thought it was cute but the Little Prince said it was a bit scarey.  He hasnt mentioned it since so I think we are safe!

- We sent the Little Prince to Camp Granny for a day.  It was the weirdest day - to not be rushing around to get things done before he wakes us and to not hear him laughing and squealing in the house was so strange.

- Hermes Scarf Friend got tickets to see Hairspray so I went with her, her son and her best friend.  It was a great show and we got to go to the cocktail reception and rub elbows with all the town bigwigs and the actors.

- We went to a bbq at the home of a guy the Suburban Prince's brother grew up with.  All these guys knew each other and it turns out this one lives just 15 minutes away from us.  We were told too bring a chair, a dish for the food table and our own booze.  Hm.  I know we have discussed this before but I still believe if it's the first time someone is coming to your house you should extend some hospitality and not make them bring all kinds of things so you can have a party.  Anyhoo...it was pretty boring for me as I didnt know anyone and didnt go to the same schools as all of them so we stayed for a few hours then made our way home.  Maybe we will invite the hosts for a coffee or something in the next few weeks and show them how it's done.

- Our contractor and his girlfriend (one of my babysitters) were in an ATV accident a few weeks ago.  The ATV flipped over and landed on them while they were out riding it.  Fortunately they got through it mostly with just lots of bumps, bruises and bandages tho our contractor needed surgery on his ankle and had a few broken bones.  I was busy for a week or so making them meals and going back and forth to make sure they had everything they needed.  Hermes Scarf Friend's husband is good friends with the contractor and he came home from visiting them telling HSF that I was the only person who did anything to help them.  I hope they take this opportunity to re-evaluate the relationships they have with people because if I had an accident and not one of my friends came by or brought a casserole or did a single thing to help me, they would be removed from my life.

- There was one day this last month that made me realize what people who work full time go through - I had a hair appopintment 45 minutes away, then rushed back to see a potential customer, then dashed across the street to have lunch with the Happy Reaper (code name for the local funeral director who is very cheerful) to discuss a Christmas fundraiser then raced home to cook dinner for the contractor and girlfriend....while cooking dinner got a phone call from my longest friend who recently moved from NJ to Kansas City so it was nice to catch up with her.  Then I packed up the dinner, dropped it off and went to pick up HSF to go to a Chamber of Commerce cocktail party.  I get a bit tired just reading that!

- The Mayor and I went to see The Help and we both loved it!  Neither of us has read the book yet but really wanted to see it in the theater.  The book is on my list...in my ereader waiting for me.

- The Little Prince went to Canadian Tire with the Suburban Prince and bought himself some stickers...with a stack of Canadian Tire money.  His first purchase! 

- I had nibblies and cocktails with a couple who do a lot of work in town on arts festivals and the like.  Currently they are working on building schools in Laos and have a fundraising event planned so they came over to chat about that and they gave me some great ideas for the 1920s gala I am planning for next spring.  I haven't seen these guys for a couple of years so it was so nice to get a couple of hours with them to catch up.

- Housekeeper had a corn roast at her house about 20 minutes from me.  You know you are in the country when there isnt a single landmark to help with directions.  She told me to go to the stop sign and her street is the third on after that.  My gps could barely find it!  But we got there and had a drink, sat by the fire listening to country music (Lawdy, what has happened to me?!) and had some corn and s'mores.  The Little Prince loved the s'mores and kept wanting to 'go for a little walk' by the food table!

- The basement renovation is still coming along.  We found another electrician after the one we hired in the spring just stopped showing up and put us a few months behind schedule.  Ugh I bumped into him in the grocery store the other day - what a jerk.  I still like his girlfriend tho as she is my seamstress but he just rubs me the wrong way.  Anyhoo, the electrical passed inspection and the insulation has been installed and now it needs to be inspected before we drywall.  

- We spent an afternoon with my in-laws.  They made a nice lunch and we sat outside in the sun enjoying it.  These days they are getting on my nerves...which is awful, I know, but MIL is getting needier and needier and I just cant handle it.  She wants to see us alllllll the time and we barely have any free time (Hello!  I've been out alone with my husband twice this year!!) so we don't want to be pressured into spending what little time we have going back and forth.  We have tried to tell her that if we could do short visits we could do them more often but then she gets all weepy *sigh*  She just doesn't understand that just because she has nothing to do doesn't mean the rest of us aren't run off our feet trying to keep up with our lives!  The Suburban Prince gets annoyed at her notion that if we don't have a meal together it doesn't count as a visit.  The has been Christmas drama already and I am thinking about booking a holiday for a few days to avoid it all!

- GEM Munro came to my Rotary club to talk about his work in the slums of Bangladesh - he is so fascinating and such a great storyteller.  We were all on the edge of our seats waiting to hear how it all turned out!  He has written a book about his experiences so if you are interested in reading about how he did the impossible you can purchase it here.

- The leader of the official opposition in Canada died.  Jack Layton was only 61 and at the height of his career.  I wont politically out myself here but regardless of what he fought for or against he was an amazing politician, passionate Canadian and made politics in this country interesting.  I feel he was this generation's Trudeau and I doubt his party will be the same without him.

- I have been in discussions with a big company for ages and got the word that I got the ribbon contract!  Yay!  So I will be printing up lots of ribbon for them to go with their marketing materials and donations they make to every charity in the area.  It's all so exciting how fast my ribbon business has taken off!  In case you havn't seen it yet, my ribbon business site is www.Royal-Ribbons.com and I create personalized ribbon!

- I spent the summer watching Downton Abbey in the kitchen while I made meals and did dishes.  I just watched the last episode a few days ago and now have a touch of Downton Depression.  If you haven't seen this show get the dvds asap!  It is so good - I couldn't take my eyes off it!

- Let's not forget Big Brother 13 - I can't believe we have been subjected to Rachael's voice for all these weeks!  I didn't have a favourite this season so there was no one I was rooting for except anyone who had the power to evict Rachael.

- I cant believe I only got to golf twice all summer!  I am having visions of being in my parka knee-deep in snow just to hit a few balls!  I must book some time with my teacher before the weather turns...only 8 weeks or so left!

- We went to my Rotary club's corn roast and got to hang out with everyone and their children and grandchildren.  The weirdest thing is a woman I met...she was saying how cute the Little Prince is and I joked and laughed and said I don't even need my husband anymore, I just stare at my son all day long.  Well.  I think she thought I was serious because she said 'I know!  If my vibr**or could mow the lawn I wouldn't be married anymore!'.  Ummm ok.  Holy inappropriate!  I was sitting with HSF and we were just looking at each other like WTH?  and this woman kept it up saying 'Am I right?!'.  The worst of it is...I know her husband!!!! 

- The juiciest goss of the summer...the neighbours across the street...the ones who are anti-social and only speak to us when they want something...have been seen with legal separation papers.  And he is sleeping in the basement.  I guess two self-centered people just dont make for a good marriage.  So I am hoping this means their house is up for sale soon - I never understood why they moved into a neighbourhood when they want nothing to do with anyone or socializing or anything.  They have a little girl the same age as the Little Prince and never had play dates or anything!  I will be happy to see the back of them and hopefully some nice, friendly people move in.


And now it's September already and Thanksgiving is in 6 weeks or so and I need to hit the ground running!  All of my autumn decor is packed in the storage room and I had no idea the basement renovation would take this long so now I need to figure out how to get in there and get it all out and get the house ready for fall!  I have been pinning like mad on Pinterest and have a million ideas for food, decorations and everything I want to do while the leaves change colour.  First up...a PSL from the new Sbucks just down the highway!  After that I can put some old jeans and a t-shirt on and see what I can do in the basement to get things a bit organized and ready.

And how was your summer?


Have a fabulous day!