Birthday BBQ and A Day for Moms

10 May

Phew, what a whirlwind weekend. We knew it’d be a busy one since we were hosting P’s birthday get together on Saturday and then spending our Sunday doing the Mother’s day thing. Knowing that you’ll be busy and then actually being busy are two different things.

Things got started on Friday night when S and I went to Costco to pick up some steaks and salmon to grill on the BBQ. We took our empty propane tank with us and hoped we’d find somewhere to fill it. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that there was a refill station at the Costco. S is not a fan of propane tanks; she never goes near the BBQ when it’s on and didn’t want anything to do with removing the tank. The entire time it was in the car, S kept glancing back at in the space behind my seat. “Maybe we should have read the instructions before putting in the car,” she said. “It’s not going to blow up, is it?” she asked a few minutes later. She’s so cute.

After Costco, we hit the supermarket to pick up some remaining items and then rushed home before the skies opened up. We got home just as it started to rain and I quickly set up the propane tank before going into the house. It was after nine by the time we had everything put away and we still hadn’t had dinner. I figured we’d just have cereal but when we were putting things away in the freezer, S had caught sight of leftover pasta that was in there. “I kinda want that pasta for dinner,” she said.

“So have it,” I replied.

“I’m wondering if it’s wise,” she said looking at the clock.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I suggested, enjoying the first spoonful of my Cheerios. “Plus, you have acupuncture tomorrow so that’ll help you out.” It took twenty minutes to thaw and heat up, but S said the pasta was worth the effort.

We got up early yesterday as S had her appointment and I had to get Sophie to the vet. We had taken her to get checked out earlier in the week since we wanted to rule out medical reasons being behind her peeing on rugs. The vet called me a few days later to let me know they weren’t able to run tests on one sample of blood because it clotted in the vile. They apologized for having to re-take the blood, but it’d need to be done.

Just as I was getting ready to head to the vet, it started to piss rain outside. It looked like a torrential storm; the rain drops were huge and they were coming down in sheets. I quickly scurried to the vets’ office with Sophie in her carrier. Even though I had my umbrella, I still got drenched from the rain splashing back up from the pavement. Poor Sophie was freaked out; not only was she back at the vets but she had no idea what all the rain was about.

We were only at the vets for a few minutes as they just had to draw blood. The assistant brought her out to me and said she’d done well. I practically jogged the entire way back home in the desire to get out of the rain. Upon getting let out of her carrier, Sophie ran upstairs to lick her wounds and sulk.

S left for her appointment and I set about cleaning around the house. Ipod blaring, I cleaned the upstairs bathroom, vacuumed the rugs and stairs and started tidying up the dining table. When S got home she reminded me that we needed to get a birthday card and flowers for P and some Mother’s Day cards. The rain had stopped but sure enough, it started up again as we left to run our errand.

We quickly did our shopping; as we got in line at the checkout, S debated getting P a gift card of sorts. She felt bad that we weren’t giving P anything.

“We’re hosting her damn get together,” I said. I figured that was a nice enough present. Still, S felt crummy about not having a gift to offer. “It’s not like she ever shows any initiative for your birthday.”

“She doesn’t?” S asked.

“Remember this last birthday? It wasn’t until we brought it up that P and K mentioned getting together for dinner for you,” I reminded her.

“Oh yeah,” S said quietly. “But no one ever remembers my birthday.”

“Hey now!” I said, feigning offense.

“You’re different,” S quickly replied. “You have to remember!” (S’s birthday is Christmas Day.)

By then, we were in the car on the way home. Once back at the house, we carried on with tidying up. S seasoned the steaks and we noticed just how big they were. I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to eat one, but I’d have been mighty impressed if they did. We also had a large piece of salmon we’d be bbq’ing too. Steak and salmon for dinner: if that’s not a good birthday present, I don’t know what is. Last year, for her “big” birthday, Darla and Cathy grilled burgers and hot dogs. I’d say this year was an upgrade.

The weather was pretty wonky. I had said that rain or shine, we were having barbeque for dinner. With the outbursts of torrential rain, I was hoping I wouldn’t be finding myself cooking in the rain. As the afternoon progressed, it looked like the sunshine would hold out. And then it got cloudy again. And then the sun came out again. It was that kind of day.

Darla, Cathy, P and P’s pup arrived not long after four. Darla and Cathy drove P down since she’d be staying over. S took Darla and Cathy to see what we’ve done with the basement and P and I sat down with our drinks. When the gals came back upstairs, we enjoyed some appetizers and chit chatted about what we’ve been up to.

K arrived about an hour later and I set about getting things ready for the BBQ. Keeping an eye on the skies, I ventured out and hoped for the best. We hadn’t had steaks for awhile; as soon as they hit the grill, I started to drool. They smelled so good, I couldn’t wait until they were done and we sat down for a nice dinner. I had never barbequed salmon before and I ran into some problems when I flipped it over. Trying to correct it only resulted in my hands getting hot and my snapping at S. I must not have messed it up though as everyone who had the salmon said it was good.

Once everything was on the table, I took notice of the spread. We had potatoes (also cooked on the grill), steaks and salmon, steamed veggies and bread. “Good thing I wore my track pants,” Cathy said.

We dug in to our meals and everything tasted really good. While I did the cooking, S looked after the seasoning. The steaks were so flavourful and juicy; it was better than any steak I’d had in a restaurant lately. Unfortunately, S wasn’t feeling so great and I don’t know that she was able to enjoy her dinner as much as everyone else.

Bellies full, we cleared our dishes and sat down with some tea and coffee. We played with the pups and talked some more. Once an appropriate amount of time passed, we brought out the birthday cake where P made a wish and blew out her candles.

Not long after we put away the cake, K got ready to head out to her next engagement and Darla and Cathy called it a night. Being the nice host that I am, I leant K my transit pass and walked her to the stop. I made sure she got on the right route and gave her directions to where she needed to go.

When I got back home, S, P and I wound down our night with an episode of Law & Order. P could barely keep her eyes open and S and I were fading quickly too. We called it a night as soon as the credits rolled on the TV. We had K’s pup, Hank with us and he treated us to muddy stairs as he came in from peeing. I was so tired, I just wanted to crawl into bed, not clean the carpet on the stairs.

You’d think that being tired would result in a good night’s sleep. That would have been the case had Hank and the gal pal not run around all night. Every noise, floor creak or shadow set them off. It took me forever to fall asleep and when I did manage to fall asleep, I was awoken by the activity.

This morning was spent having tea and coffee with P and K. Since S and I had plans with our mom’s, P and K left after having their beverages. S had to leave a bit early since she was going out of town. As she was heading out she yelled to me that K had called my cell, but she missed the call. I wondered why K would be calling me and then it hit me, she still had my transit pass. I called K back and sure enough, she had the pass in her bag. I didn’t feel right about asking her to drive all the way back into the city from the ‘burbs just for the pass, so I suggested she drop it off at P’s place. My office is pretty close to P’s so I can easily meet her at lunch tomorrow. That just meant that I’d have to use cash fares to get around today and to work tomorrow morning.

I spent the afternoon at my folks’. Lunch involved my parents, brother, his girlfriend, my nephew and my sister-in-law’s mom. A large portion of the day was spent playing the Wii my brother had brought over. I was glad I brought my camera as I was able to capture some pictures and video of a very enthusiastic toddler hamming it up with the Wii. If nothing else, it’ll be something to embarrass him with when he’s a teenager.

Once I was all Wii’ed out, I collected my things, wished the Mother’s a happy day once more and made my way home. S was already home when I arrived and is sitting enjoying a book.

I feel like I need a day off to recover from this weekend. This week’s going to be a crazy one as I have training three out of the five days and the company’s town hall meeting is also this week. The training should be interesting as it’s for new programs I’ve never used before. The only downfall is I’ll be at the training with my boss, all day long. He’s a great guy and we get along well. But I really like having other people around, being able to go for a coffee run or go over to Natalie’s cubicle to shoot the shit. Other than lunch, I’ll be spending all day in close quarters with him. Oi.