SUMMER - version 2007

Sum-sum-Summa-Time...Summa Tiiiiime!!! Who needs a break?...


I Do! I Do!


This summer has been another non-stop blockbuster. But hey, what other time of the year can one experience weddings/busyness/Vegas & dating all at once? I ask myself these questions:



Am I having FUN? - Yes.
Am I tired? - Yes.
Driving or Flying? - Driving.
Worth the experience (dating)?- Yes.
Will I watch Transformers for a 5th time? -Dare I say, Yes? Am I NUTS? - Yes!!!!!


Here is the run-down:


CANADA - FULLY LOADED

At the beginning of June, I traveled to good "O - Canada" for my cousin's wedding. It has been great seeing family that I don't see often (because of physical distance), and I am thankful for such time spent.


But this trip to Canada, will be the most memorable on record. In baseball, there is a term called the "cycle" where a player hits a single, a double, a triple, and a home run all in one game. It is a very rare occurence. I had a 'cycle' experience in Canada.

Here is the run down:





Day 1: A&G's wedding. Beautiful! I was very encouraged how inclusive the wedding was overall. It also turned out that my other cousin's (bride's brother) birthday was the same day. It was very nice to see brother and sister share the wedding cake to celebrate both occasions-very thoughtful.

After the wedding, 3 other cousins and I hit the town to check out the local bar & pub scene. We ended up playing pool, and then at 2am, grabbed hot dogs and pizza to eat...


big mistake for me...


Day 2: The next morning, I woke up naustious. I thought it was simple diarhhrea (cha-cha-cha). Just my luck, I came down with a sudden, unusually strong case of stomach flu, which gets about as gross as you want to imagine it. My entire family that came from Nor-Cal came to Canada at the tail end of their stomach flu episode. And like a good t.v. series, the episodes continue! Lucky me. I personally had never had that bad of a vomiting experience in my life - I hope I never again. To my recollection, a total of 8 family members contracted the annoying virus during this trip; my cousin A who got married experienced it the next morning also....boo stomach flu, boo!! After another cousin gave me a dramamine to sedate me, we drove 3+ hours from Edmonton to Calgary, for part 2 of my trip.


Day 3: After having slept continuously for almost 14 hours, I was WAY better. With a few runs, I was pretty much normal again. This day was bitter-sweet for another reason: my cousin's found out that a cousin on the other side of their family, passed away from cancer during the weekend, AND it was my cousin L's college graduation ceremony.


Later that evening, I got a text message from my sister: "...I got engaged!!"


Day 4: Nothing beats capping your vacation experience with a little bit of fishing. Calgary has these communities built around man-made lakes, that provide year round fishing and canoeing and paddle boating to residents within the 2-3 mile radius of the lake. It's awesome! Later this evening, I fly back to the O.C.


A wedding, stomach flu all-around, news of relative passing, a graduation, and sister's engagement - all in a 4 day period.



Next up: VEGAS BA-BY!!!


My best friend and 9 other guys rented two mini vans and hauled our
phat arses to Vegas for a weekend bachelor golf outing/celebration.



Because I don't want to break the mojo, (cuz "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"), we had a nice time golfing and nice time dining/gambling, "etc". I was a good boy, that is ALL I have to say.



Wedding in Nor-Cal


The following weekend after Vegas, I traveled up to Nor-Cal where my other good friends,
A & M were celebrating their wedding. Congratulations to both of them.



I also managed to spend some time to meet up with my other best friends, E & M (I'm just going to use initials throughout this post), and see their 2nd newborn son. The rest of the time was spent with family, which was too brief. I hope to make up some time on a near-future trip in a couple months.


Wedding in So-Cal


Ha, ha, yes, one more for the books, but certainly not the last! My very good friends D & H were up-to-bat for their wedding bonanza. Since I was best-man, I had limited time to do the very thing I enjoy doing most at weddings: photography. But since I had the dual-role of best man & driver (I got to drive my friends Beamer), I was able to tag along at a photo-opp that their main photographer wanted to take prior to the reception. Of course, I always have my toys with me and I took some, and from a short distance. I must say these were the most fun, and natural shots I've taken in my 10-year amateur/semi-pro career. And to compliment all of the pics on this post, I was able to edit them on my new....




(I think a picture here will save me a thousand words).


With August here, my summer has just started! I do have a couple more to attend later in the year, but the flurry is over! And somehow in between even all of that, I managed to attend Pageant of the Masters, go on a date I met online, bowl in my weekly league with co-workers, help run a games booth at an outdoor carnival, perform major service on my car, AND, my greatest feat of all-watched TRANSFORMERS 4 times.