Winnipeg

I visited my relatives in Winnipeg between 2003 09 23 and 2003 10 09 (or maybe 10, since I haven't left yet). Special events included my grandmother's 80th birthday celebration on the 28th and my cousin's wedding on October the 4th. Most of the photos are consolidated into separate galleries below, save a few miscellaneous ones that didn't really fit anywhere.



I've decided to make this gallery into a bit of a diary, so be warned: it'll be wordy. Here goes:



So I arrived in Winnipeg (well, Hazelridge, where my cousin's place is) on the 25th. Called my sister to wish her a belated happy birthday, and called my mom to say hi. Then I helped a bit with some pre-wedding chores around my cousin's place.



The next day (after a bit of laundry and cleaning out my car) I spent with my mom. Luch (a l'Hortons) and shopping were on the agenda, as I was determined to take a propane powered space heater with me on the way back. Some footwear without gaping holes was also acquired by team Norm. Then we waited around at my mom's place until it was time to go and fetch my sister and her fiancee from the airport. Seems pretty straightforward, right?



So as I was checking email, I discovered that the Winnipeg Airport Authority has a live arrivals/departures timetable on their website. Cool, I thought, we can see if the flight is on time. It was supposed to arrive at 2132. So I checked the site, and it says the flight is delayed to 2138 (this was around 2000). Maybe half an hour later, I check again and it says the flight is delayed to 2230. Blaugh. Good thing I checked, I'm thinking, since parking at the airport is, as with all airports, expensive. Another check at 2100 and the ETA is the same. So, planning to leave at 2200 to get to the airport a little early, I check at 2150. WHAT?! The flight, it seems, arrived on time at 2132. So we jump in the car and phone my aunt Sue, since Becca and John are probably wondering what's going on. Sure enough, they've already phoned Sue about three minutes before me. So we get to the airport and pick them up. Their flight was uneventful, they say. Wish we could say the same for the ground transportation service. Oh well, at least we didn't have to pay for airport parking!



Saturday: OK, so my memere's 80th birthday party is tomorrow. After a bit of shopping with Mom, Becca and John, Sue (our master coordinator) shows up and we start preparing the party room at my mom's place. You see, the plan is to take Memere to dinner with just the family, and then a little get together at my mom's place. At least, that's what we told her. There were 34 people at the dinner, and 80 at the party afterwards. I think we fooled her.



Sunday: More preparations for the party, and then the party itself. Verbiage continues in that gallery.



Monday: Hrm, what shall we do today. I know! Let's spend the whole day preparing a wedding cake! See the gallery for a continuation of this expansive monologue.



Tuesday-Wednesday: Time to visit the cottage. See the gallery for more info. Wednesday night, Becca, John and I went out to dinner and dessert with Becca's good friend Christine and her husband, Adam.



Thursday: A day off?! A vacation from my vacation? We didn't really have anything to do today, so we did some shopping. Dinner at the Olive Garden while my car got cleaned by the folks at the Chamois. Mom, Becca and John spent the rest of the evening watching a movie, but I decided to get some sleep while I could, what with all the various eventage coming up, and possibly a cold brewing as well.



Friday: Various runnings around as we set up the reception hall for the wedding, followed by a rehearsal dinner at the party room in Sue's building, followed by (you guessed it) the rehearsal at the Church.



Saturday, October the fourth, two thousand and three: WEDDING!!! See the gallery.



Sunday: Well, this is today for me, so I'll fill in the rest later. Suffice to say that the morning was spent writing all this crap while Brad and Jan came over to Sue's place (where I've been staying all week) to sort through the presentations. Later today we'll be going to Brad's parents' place for their post-wedding party, where I'm sure more excellent Ukranian delectables will be consumed and good times and revelry will ensue. Be sure to check out the gallery.



Monday: Saw Becca and John to the airport; back to Boston they go. Myself, I plan to leave tomorrow. Did a little bit of shopping, which included getting prints of some of the photos from the gallery. I think my printer does a better job of reproducing the photo, but since they do theirs on proper photo paper, they probably last longer. Then again, I have the originals....