Penguins, Pot & Other Stuff

Last regular season home game for the Tiger Cats.  With the playoffs still up in the air, they are all important games now.  Unfortunately Brother Mike was unable to attend.  It was his weekend to be working.  So, off to the game with Trish the Dish & Paulo.  Even Dickhead came along as there was an extra ticket for him to scoop up.

 

It was a very cool & windy day.  Usually the wind is coming from behind us so we are somewhat protected by the seats at our back.  Not yesterday.  A strong, somewhat cold breeze was blowing steady at us throughout the whole game.  Thank goodness I had 4 layers of clothing on.  Managed to stay quite comfortable during the whole game.  Of course, my smuggled in thermos of hot chocolate was also a lifesaver.

 

The game: total domination by the Cats.  They were running & passing quite nicely while Saskatchewan was having problems going into the wind and even playing with it.  24,000 people saw quite a good game by the Cats.  As usual, Brother Joseph came over at halftime to compare notes.  At that point, Dickhead was mumbling something about Long John Baldry & my blog to him.  Avid blog readers will know where I am coming from on this one.  Anyway, final result was a big win for the Hamilton boys.  Now, when we take care of those Bombers in Winnipeg, it will be back at Ivor Wynne for a home playoff game.  Oskee wee wee!

 

Check out the Pictures

Every once in a while, Dickhead surprises me with an offer of lunch on him.  Now, yours truly is always springing for the tab with so many people.  He must see this and figure that if he buys me lunch, the acid of my tongue will lessen in intensity.  Poor deluded boy!

 

Anyway, met him today at Jackson Square.  Tried to get Paulo to come along so that the lunch would cost Dickhead even more.  Unfortunately, he could not make it.  Ordered the usual: The Works from New York Fries.  Simply delicious!  We sat at the food court and caught up on things.  All in all, an enjoyable time.  Then, off to the Farmer’s Market.  Charles came along (okay, just this one time) and offered to help.  It was nice having my Man Friday providing assistance.  Some sausages, a steak and some potatoes.  Dinner will be taken care of for the next couple of days.

Thanks Dickhead, an enjoyable afternoon.  The next time though, don’t wait so long between feeds!

Got an invitation from Dickhead (okay, he was being nice so I’ll call him Charles for now) the other day.  He was inviting the gang-that includes Paulo, Jeannine, Kaleb & Trish-to an annual potluck barbecue they host every year at Christie’s Conservation Area.  Yesterday was the day.  We loaded up in the van (under very dark, brooding skies) and made our way out there with a delicious vegetable tray & pumpernickel bread thing with dip.

 

Five minutes before arriving, the skies opened up.  A steady rain.  Do I spend the $18 to get us in the park?  Would hate to have to turn around shortly after to go home.  I work hard for my money!  What the heck, in we went.  Found the festivities and unloaded.  Wouldn’t you know it, 10 minutes later and the rain had stopped.  We actually got a little bit of sun!  Charles & Liz greeted us and we went through the introductions.  Their daughter Jenny was there and it seemed that most of the people who had showed up were friends of hers.  I felt very old all of a sudden!

 

Trish, the lovely dish that she is, decided to become busy.  Not only was she my official photographer, she also offered to handle the barbecue duties.  What a talented girl!  It was quite the spread with various burgers, sausages, hot dogs & little skewers of delicious meets.  Of course, numerous salads and other goodies made a great complement.  Also, delicious desserts!  I tried to get Kaleb to go swimming or to join the other kids in various activities but-no way!  He wanted to spend his time with either myself or Charles.

 

We stayed for a few hours and then decided to head home.  Trish had some bingo playing to do!  A great time.  Thanks Liz & Charles!

 

Check out the Pictures!

Got an invitation from Liz & Charles (I will refrain from his real name in this post because he provided free food).  They wanted myself, the lovely Trish, Paulo, Jeannine & Kaleb to come over for a barbecue.  So yesterday, an absolutely perfect barbecue day, off we went.  The lovely Jenny (daughter of the one whose real name I will not use) and her friend Hannah were also there.  Before we sat down to eat, it was off to the Dundas Driving Park.

 

That used to be one of the favorite places for Mom & Dad to bring the family when we were younger.  When we got there yesterday, the memories came flooding back even though the park has changed quite a bit.  I recently put some old family movies on DVD for everyone and it was nice to match the scenes from the DVD to the current real-life scenario.  Gone are the old roundabout, teeter totter and slides.  Still though, a very nice park.

 

Then, back we went to chow down.  Charles took care of the cooking and he managed to get by without burning anything.  A lovely selection to choose from: burgers, sausages & chicken.  Some delicious salads and everyone was happy.  Unfortunately, desert proved too traumatic for Kaleb as the ice cream Charles brought out was not nut free!  We would have stayed longer but Trish was dying to get back home to watch the hockey game.  Since she did such a great job taking pictures, we said our goodbyes and went home.  A great day.  Thank you Liz & Jenny.  Yes, and I guess you too Charles!

 

Check out the Pictures

Dickhead and his lovely wife Liz invited some of us over to their place for some friendly poker & chit chat.  I went with the lovely Trish and her friend Teresa.  Also invited were Joe (one of the regular poker boys) and his wife Karen.  We used to play at Dickhead’s a lot (in the days before & after my lovely ex) but I bet it’s been 6 or 7 years since our last game.

 

Being a gracious guest, I asked Trish to pick up a couple of dozen pastitzi for everyone to try.  A smashing success!  Even the lovely Jennifer (my ex partner in crime) took part in the feast.  We did get there a little late (thanks Trish) but still managed to squeeze in a lot of fun.  Dickhead (alias Toots) tried his best to rob me of my money but in the end, I did okay.  All in all everyone had a great time.

 

Thanks Liz-and yes, you too Dickhead.

Yesterday was the day.  Hit the big 56!  And it turned out to be a simply wonderful day.  Woke up to the best day of the year so far weatherwise.  Sunny, warm with a comfortable breeze blowing.  Decided it was time to go talk to Anita, my tattoo lady.  Got the Aquilina crest done a while back so now I figured it was time for Sciberras to make an appearance.  That’s my mother’s maiden name.  Fortunately, Anita was in.  She owns the Aardvark Tattoo Shop on King Street East, just around the corner from me.  Anita is from Columbia; tall, slender, tanned with long long long dark hair.  And she’s so nice!  We caught up on things and the appointment has been made-Saturday of next week at 1 PM.  After that, Aquilina & Sciberras together forever on my arm.

 

Then, the weather was feeling so good, I decided to wheel down to Dundurn Street to get the license sticker for my van.  A lovely little trip!  On the way back, I cruised through Hess Village to check out the patio scene.  Just in case Claudia Schiffer or Angelina Jolie or Brooke Burke was looking for me.  Don’t want to disappoint the ladies!  Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be seen so off to Jackson Square I went.  Checked out the new Farmer’s Market location in the mall.  Picked up some grapes, veggies & Cajun catfish fillets for dinner.  Grabbed a coffee at Pam’s and sat back with the minced meat tart I picked up at the market.  Simply delicious.  Gave me a chance to enjoy the scenery in the mall!

 

Then it was back home.  Unfortunately I had missed Brother Joseph who had dropped in with my birthday card while I was out.  Not only that, he had some goodies from the Lady Kathryn.  Thank goodness Jeannine & Paulo were here to let him in!  No sooner had I settled when the phone rang-my friend Sherri wanted to meet at Jackson Square for a coffee and a catch up.  Off I went where I spent the next hour or so with her.  Quite an interesting get-together as Sherri is always full of "unique" conversation!  Then, back home.

 

Earlier in the week I got a call from Dickhead (okay, he was so nice I’ll call him Charles-but just this once!).  He was actually offering to take me out for birthday dinner (his treat) along with his lovely wife Liz & Trish.  Free food, even from Dickhead, is something I can’t turn down.  I figured he would also offer to cover for Paulo and Jeannine (2 very very dear friends) but this was not to be.  Being the good guy that I am though, I sprang for them & Kaleb and the deal was done.  It was decided we would meet at the Black Forest Restaurant on the evening of my birthday.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature stuck her nose into things by sending us a deluge to deal with while getting there.  Eventually though, we were all seated at our table.  It was a great get-together.  Good food & good friends.  Even the presence of Dickhead could not bring things down!  My scotch was good and my dessert was even better.  Kaleb on one side of me, Trish on the other-I would have been in heaven if it wasn’t for the fact that Dickhead was right across from me.  Oh well!

 

We got the staff from the restaurant to take a couple of pictures (I forgot my camera) but I don’t have them yet.  When I do, I’ll let everyone know.  Thank you all, it was a great day.  Hopefully I’ll have at least 56 more!

I’ve known Dickhead for over 20 years now.  Thought there wasn’t anything more he could do to surprise me.  I was wrong!  After some investigative journalism, came up with a picture of him that defies description.  Member of the Jewish mob?  Flower child displaced in a time warp?  Transvestite hula dancer?  I just don’t know.  Your input on this one is truly appreciated.

 

Check out the picture (if you dare!)

Cousin Jan was over the other day helping out with a couple of long jobs in the apartment.  First, he took out the window air conditioner from the bedroom.  Then, on to bigger & better things!  The lovely Jeannine had previously helped the pick out some curtains for the apartment.  It was time for a change.  And she did a lovely job-they match my new couch perfectly.  Cousin Jan put them up for me and it makes the apartment looks so much nicer!

 

Then, Cousin Jan helped out over a Jeannine’s.  He put up some pictures & knickknacks for her.  Thanks Cousin Jan, as always a job very well done!  It’s nice having him over because we always managed to have a laugh or two at each other’s expense.

 

We got a picture of Cousin Jan hard at work.  Definitely his best profile-check it out!

When I was a kid growing up, my best friend was George.  He lived and not too far away and went to the same grade school as me.  His father was our family doctor.  We went to high school together and got to know many people there.  This included Lorne & Eric.  We knew Eric from grade school and got to know Lorne at Bishop Ryan High School.

 

One of the many things we did was head to Algonquin Park every summer for a couple of weeks of canoeing/portaging/camping/fishing.  Always had a great time.  We even went on a winter camping trip.  Middle of January in the bush around Huntsville.  We were on snowshoes and planned on sleeping in tents.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be the coldest week of the year: -40°C at night.  Even our rum froze!  We ended up breaking into a boarded-up hunting cabin.  Paradise!

 

As happens with many people, we all went our separate ways.  George ended up getting married, becoming a doctor and moving to Victoria British Columbia.  Hardly see the man.  The last time was maybe 10 years ago.  I knew he was coming into town (Niagara Falls really) to get together with some of the boys he went to university with in London.  This included Lorne & Eric.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it to the get-together.  But-lo & behold, there was a buzz from my lobby on Sunday morning and it was George!  Shortly after he got here, Lorne & Eric arrived.

 

It was so nice to get together again.  Of course we talked about so many things from the old days.  Caught up on things and spent a lovely couple of hours together.  Eventually though, George had to leave to catch his flight back to British Columbia.  I got some contact information on his mother who lives there are also.  Mrs. Urban was always so nice to me.  I’ll have to give her a call!  Thanks George, it was nice to see you.  Now, let’s not let another 10 years go by before we do this again!

 

Got some pictures-check them out.

Anyone who knows me is aware that I have a difficult time handling excessive heat/humidity.  Living at Villa Verdi doesn’t help.  This building holds in the heat just like an oven.  After 1 or 2 slight delays, Cousin Jan came down on Friday morning to help me purchase & install a window air conditioner in my bedroom.  The unit in the living room just couldn’t cool the bedroom down on those hot, muggy days.

 

Finally, comfort in the bedroom!  Cousin Jan, I know it took a while but thanks for your help.  Now, I just need to make sure that piece of cardboard does its job!  Paulo seems to think it’s just a matter of time before the great outdoors is peeking into my bedroom.