« Strange Games | Main | J. C. Watts »
July 01, 2002
Mosquitoes 9 Ian 2
There are a lot of things that I have missed about not living in Ottawa, many of which I was reminded of this past weekend when I returned for the first time during the summer in at least five years, possibly seven. One thing I don't miss is being eaten alive by mosquitoes. My fight with the mosquitoes started and pretty much ended right away on the first evening back on Chris Cooper's deck after his rehearsal dinner. Pretty much all of the bites I got, I got that night. I managed to keep it from being a shutout by killing two later that evening, one male and one female. They're dead, but I'm still itching.
For those that don't know, I went home to Ottawa this weekend for Chris and Kristina's wedding. My weekend started Friday morning with a flight home in the morning. Things were somewhat rushed as I had to make a last minute run for the dry cleaners to grab my suit for the wedding on Saturday, as I was delayed at work the night before and I couldn't get it in time. Napped the afternoon away before going over to Chris'.
Saturday was the blessed day itself. I slept in. I didn't have anything to do. Unfortunately, I also missed the S. Korea-Turkey game, but I was willing to take that hit for the extra hours of sleep. Went out for a dim sum lunch with my parents.and came back and relaxed a bit before heading over to the Museum of Natural History only three blocks away from my parents' place. I admit I'd never have thought that the Museum of Natural History (dinosaurs and all) would be available as a venue, but apparently it's also available for bar mitzvahs (Matt Orrbine, the best man's, but I didn't find that out until this weekend).
The ceremony was heartfelt and simple, the kind that's rife with symbolism without the pomp and circumstance of church weddings. It was officiated by Diane Smolka from the Humanist Association of Canada. There was a symbolic pouring of wines from both families to give the couple their blessing, complete with tension-relieving laughter as Kristina tries to tip the goblet for Chris but found him just a bit too tall and her lovely dress just a bit too constraining.
There followed a cocktail hour with the usual hobnobbing and hors d'oeuvres. Ran into some old friends, including Mike Shaver and his wife Tyla from high school and Kevin from a Superbowl here in Manhattan a couple of years ago. It was great to talk with everyone again, but it seems like all of the folks my age are all in the middle of changing jobs. It was a little discouraging, but fortunately it didn't last long. The receiving line and dinner was upon us.
They had a really cool idea for place settings. Each table was set with a gem or dinosaur theme, such as "Tyrannosaurus Rex," "Velociraptor," "Agate," or "Rose Quartz," in keeping with the whole Museum of Natural History thing. Each of our name plates had a magnet with our table's theme on it, guiding us to our tables. I thought it was quite fun.
Dinner was buffet style, punctuated by the usual speeches and toasts. Instead of the usual kissing in response to the clinking of glasses, we were rewarded only for performances of some sort, whether it be poetic, musical, or some other act. There were plenty of poems, some better than others. There was also an attempt at juggling by the parents' table and an a capella rendition of "The Love Boat" theme by the University of Guelph crew. There was also plenty of kissing. Booyah.
There was dessert, dancing, plenty of laughs, a shockingly accurate replay of the dance stylings of Vanilla Ice, and in the end, we all went home tired, but happy.
But before going home, I stopped for poutine with Matt, his girlfriend Michelle, and his friend, Marius.
Sunday was pretty quiet. Watched the World Cup final with my parents on replay on a Chinese station in. That was pretty interesting. I've watched the games in English (bleah), Spanish (more fun), and Cantonese (odd). Thank God Brazil won. Kick ass! After that, everything else was pretty much anticlimactic. Lunch at a less than stellar Korean restaurant nearby, flight home, yadda yadda yadda.
And that was my weekend. How was yours?
Posted by KinCross at July 1, 2002 11:09 PM