Oh the horror of it all! It's been over three weeks since I last updated my blog. I wish I could say that I was busy studying for the exam I finally had last week, but I'll be frank and admit that I was procrastinating in various ways. I read non-textbook books, watched children's movies (shrek 2 and The Emperor's New Groove, etc.) and played the Sims 2.

In the midst of all this procrastinating, other events occurred. I was originally supposed to go to Niagara Falls on a family vacation. We were going to meet my oldest sister and her family unit there, but at the last minute, the trip was cancelled. I'm not terribly disappointed. Niagara Falls holds no real appeal for me - it would be neat to see again now that I'm older, but the only reason I wanted to go in the first place was to see my sibling and niece. Instead, our plans were changed so that June and Cara would come to Owen Sound instead. I was quite pleased since that saved everyone a great deal of driving.

(Okay, this post is beginning to sound rather 1950s... "This was pleasant" "How quaint" blah blah blah. Must modernize it.)

Anyways, to skip past a lot of boring stuff, my sister ended up arriving last Friday. I took the day off of work so I could be there when she arrived. Our first night was uneventful - just a lot of yapping and whatnot.

The second day, we wandered around downtown, but I was exhausted and ended up leaving early. That night we went to see Pirates of the Carribean 2. Dad and I dragged mom and June out to see it with us. I enjoyed the movie thorougly. There were parts which I'll admit I could have done without, but overall it was great - some old gags, some new ones. Old characters and new characters. The only part that kind of ruined it for me was the company - mom and June kept bashing the movie afterwards which of course brings down the overall mood you're in. Oh well.

On the third day (this is beginning to sound like Genesis) we all piled into the van and drove down to Kitchener to visit Mel. We were hell-bent on doing as little shopping as possible and doing as much quality time as we could. We failed. Okay, not failed... But in the afternoon we went to St. Jacob's market to putt around. That was fun, but it was still essentially shopping. The only shopping I like to do nowadays is food shopping. I bought myself a samosa and some other goodies I can't remember.

When Mel was done work, we ventured to Kitchener to buy some dinner. We went to the same Chinese buffet that I went to when I first arrived back in Canada. I'm sure you won't be surprised if I say that the food was as bad now as it was then. At least this time I didn't burst into spontaneous bouts of laughter. (Actually, we were accused of being "troublemakers" at this restaurant by a waiter - we were loud and unruly (like normal). My sister and I had a random wrestling match in the bathroom of the restaurant - each of us trying to soak the other one.)

After stuffing ourselves and making asses of ourselves, we ventured out to Mohawk Casino. As most of you know - I don't care for casinos, but I sucked it up, and went along for the ride. (Ha, as if I had a choice!) It took me about an hour to even put money in a machine. I then promptly lost the $20 I limited myself to. Quelle surprise. I spent the next few hours wandering around the casino, watching Melanie win $400, watching my other sister and mom lose their money, and oggling the main guitarist of the band that was playing. I suddenly get the stereotype that all musicians are hot...

Everyone was pretty hyped up after the casino (probably due to the stimulating decor that all casinos have) so we went to Moose Winooskis (I know I spelled that wrong) for a midnight gorging. We consumed more alcohol before finally heading back to Kitchener.

The next morning was fun filled with sibling irritations. With 4 women in one apartment and only one shower, a lineup formed. June declared she would be next in line even though I had already claimed the position. Mel then decided to leapfrog over the both of us and declared her intentions by running into the shower when my mom finally vacated it. The problem was, Mel didn't take off her clothes when she ran into it... So I got my revenge on her by turning the tap on while she was still dressed! Unfortunately for me, Mel got her revenge and threw a bucket of cold water on me while I was having my own shower...

We had been planning on going and playing mini-putt and doing stuff other than shopping, but our plans were nixed by a torrent of rain. Therefore we did what we always did in KW - we went clothes shopping. Just before we left, we went to the Chinese grocery store so I could do some quick shopping... I bought chicken feet! Tee hee. My sisters were absolutely horrified. Mom and June then drove me home so I could go to work the next day.

A week flew by, and then suddenly it was Thursday and I had the next 3 work days off. Melanie arrived in the afternoon, and soon thereafter, June, she, and I ventured out to Sauble Beach, one of Ontario's most popular beaches. It's been YEARS since I've been down there. Unfortunately I didn't have a bathing suit, so I just flaked out on the sand and read my textbook (my exam was coming up in 2 days). June and Mel did their own flaking thing and swimming. Afterwards, we wandered up and down the streets, poking in and out of the difference shops. I bought myself a couple of sunglasses because the pair I bought in Hong Kong finally broke. I dig my new sunglasses, but they scratch really easily.

When we finally dragged our butts home, it was time to commence drinking. We ended up staying up till about 1am. (I know that sounds wussy, but remember, we're all used to getting up by 7:00am) I think I went to bed even earlier - remember, my morning call comes at 5:30! We had fun though as usual. Much alcohol was consumed.

The next day Mel and June drove up to Huntsville to pick up my niece and bring her back. They stopped at Wasaga Beach on the way home. I on the other hand got to chill in good old Owen Sound and study for my exam that was the next day. I wish I could stay I studied hard, but I spent half the time reading a library book my dad left within my reach. I finished the library book... But not the studying. I don't remember what happened after that, but by the end of the night, Cara and them had returned.

The next morning, Mom, Mel, and June went out yard saling while I stayed at home to do some final cramming for my exam. I believe my siblings and niece went to Sauble again. I went to write my exam. My exam centre was in Georgian College. That's another place I hadn't been to in a long time. I think I did okay on the exam. Not stellar though (and no, the reading I had procrastinated on wouldn't have helped me). I just felt very rushed - 4 short essays in 2.5 hours is a very odd timeline. Oh well. I was just happy to get it over with.

The next few days were filled with random bits of shopping, relaxing, and whatnot. On Saturday night, we went to Pizza Hut and threw Cara a surprise belated birthday party. It was a blast. Everyone was in a great mood and there were lots of laughs.

Finally on Sunday, we ventured out to Toronto to go to ROM and Ontario Place for the Chinese Lantern Festival. We stayed at U of T's Victoria College Residence... I have to agree with the rest of my family - that residence sucked ass. It stank, was dirty, most things were broken etc. I was not impressed. But the residence experience was lessened by the trip to ROM. I hadn't been to ROM since I was Cara's age, so I only had a few vague memories. I enjoyed it. It was amusing to walk through their Asian exhibits and realize that I've actually BEEN to the places they were talking about! (e.g. there was a whole section dedicated to the Ming tombs.)

Ontario Place I'll admit though turned out to be a bit of a flop. There were gazillions of lanterns, similar to the ones I saw in Hong Kong during their Midautumn Festival, but that was about it. There were only a few food vendors and shopping stalls. The food wasn't very tasty/authentic (they sold chicken balls - how authentic can that be???), and they only sold the type of waffles I didn't like. :'( Plus the bargaining was a total bust. They wouldn't bargain with me! And I tried hard - I spoke Cantonese, I spoke Mandarin. I used my "I'm a poor student" line - nothing worked! I was bitter. I was also bitter because my brand new batteries decided to die, so I only got a few photos before it died.

The next day we fled back to Owen Sound. June ran off to Sauble Beach again with Cara. Everyone just relaxed after all the running around we had done. That night I bade my sibling and niece adieu and went back to Port Elgin.

(Finally, we're catching up to the present...)

This past weekend was the civic holiday, so I had another long weekend. (Yay holidays!) On Friday, we chilled in the house and watched TV/movies. On Saturday, my mom, niece and I went to the Markdale Ice cream Festival. Here are the pics! The festival is a non-profit deal - Chapman's, the ice cream company, donates ice cream to the festival and all the profits made from the ice cream go to charity. I have to admit, the festival has definitely improved since it first began. There was live music, dog shows, rides, dancing, etc. It was fun. Cara had the most fun at the petting zoo. You can tell she's a real animal magnet - even the goats were kissing her! I got totally sun burnt at the festival - I didn't even think about sunscreen... And getting home was a nightmare. Due to the longweekend, traffic was horrendous. It took us about twice as long as it should have to get home.

The next day I took Cara to see the Ant Bully in the theater. It was fun, but when we emerged, I checked my cell and found out that our ride (aka my parents) had ran off to Hanover! The NERVE of them! We ended up getting a taxi back home and chilled out, playing on our separate computers.

On Monday, we went our for some shopping and ended off our day with a family dinner at my Uncle Bill and Marsha's. My dad's cousin was visiting, so we made it into a family occassion. The food was fantastic and filling.

I believe this post means that I'm all caught up on my blogging. I apologize for the delay, and for all the typos. But it's a pain trying to play catch up on my life... It doesn't help that I just uploaded a month and a half worth of photos to my flickr account. Go check them out, since most of them aren't alluded to here in my blog.

Catch ya on the flipside!