Busy busy
I had a busy and fun-filled long weekend. It started Thursday at work. Since we're moving to a new office, we ended up packing up as much as we could into boxes for the move. (We start at the new office tomorrow, although I'm told nothing will actually be moved there until Wednesday. Great.) I had to leave early for a chiropractic appointment way over in the west end of town. All through the day, Karen and I had been sending each other text messages, both to keep track of her and Steve's approach of Ottawa, and to liven things up. We finally met up and made tacos for dinner, and watched X-Men on DVD.
Friday was Canada Day. We got up and went out to see some of the sights. Our first stop was the new War Museum, which, like all Ottawa museums, was free admission for the day. Steve was the one who wanted to see it, but we all enjoyed it, as much as one can enjoy a somber, seemingly-balanced treatment of people killing each other for politics. We went downtown from there and grabbed some street-meat for lunch, and saw all the streets closed and teeming with people. We went near Parliament Hill and saw a little bit of what was going on there (not a whole lot since it was so crowded), and continued on to the market to get some beaver tails. We wandered through the market and looked at the wares for sale, and then since we were all wearing sandals and our feet hurt (and also because it was threatening rain), we went home (stopping for slushies on the way). We watched X-2, ordered in pizza for dinner, and watched the special features on the Incredibles to kill time as it got closer to fireworks time. We didn't want to go all the way back downtown into the crowds, and then try to get home by bus, so we just went to the top floor of the apartment building. It turns out the door to the outside roof was unlocked, so we went out onto it and got a beautiful view of the show, even at that distance. It was a cloudy night, but it didn't rain, and the breeze was nice, especially after the humidity of the day. We got back down and weren't tired yet, so we watched A Knight's Tale, which they'd brought with them. That was cool.
On Saturday we slept in and bummed around for a while, then went for a walk in nearby Hogs Back Park. We brought a bunch of stale bread that I'd saved, and fed it to the ducks and Canada geese on Mooney's Bay. They swarmed us once they saw we had food, it was pretty funny. (: The ducks were chattering away as we fed them. The Canada geese were pretty bold, but they weren't as aggressive as I've had reports of, so since nobody got attacked, we all had fun. And it was a wonderful day, not humid or anything, so we walked clear to Billings Bridge. We caught a bus downtown from there, to a store that had a game Steve wanted called Star Munchkin. We wandered to Woody's from there and had a late lunch/early dinner and a beervage, then came home and played Star Munchkin and Mission Risk over a few more beverages. Steve and I played a wee bit of Sonic Heroes, and then since everyone was falling asleep anyway, we went to bed.
This morning we got up and played some more Star Munchkin, but then it was time for them to go. I did laundry that piled up over the weekend, but that could only stave off the loneliness sparked by sudden isolation for so long. I fired up the ol' emulator and started playing games. Fortunately, Adrian called and asked me if I wanted to go cycling. I said sure, hopped on my bike, and we went out to Lincoln Fields via the Experimental Farm bike path, and came back downtown along the Ottawa River pathway, stopping several times so Adrian could take pictures. We met up with Brian, chatted for a bit, went for Shawarma for dinner, and I came home.
So I can't complain about having only dial-up internet, since I've barely had a chance to use it at all. (: After such a long and busy weekend (that took nearly as long to blog as to experience!) I'm ready for bed. Keep well everyone, and an early Happy Independence Day for my American friends.
Friday was Canada Day. We got up and went out to see some of the sights. Our first stop was the new War Museum, which, like all Ottawa museums, was free admission for the day. Steve was the one who wanted to see it, but we all enjoyed it, as much as one can enjoy a somber, seemingly-balanced treatment of people killing each other for politics. We went downtown from there and grabbed some street-meat for lunch, and saw all the streets closed and teeming with people. We went near Parliament Hill and saw a little bit of what was going on there (not a whole lot since it was so crowded), and continued on to the market to get some beaver tails. We wandered through the market and looked at the wares for sale, and then since we were all wearing sandals and our feet hurt (and also because it was threatening rain), we went home (stopping for slushies on the way). We watched X-2, ordered in pizza for dinner, and watched the special features on the Incredibles to kill time as it got closer to fireworks time. We didn't want to go all the way back downtown into the crowds, and then try to get home by bus, so we just went to the top floor of the apartment building. It turns out the door to the outside roof was unlocked, so we went out onto it and got a beautiful view of the show, even at that distance. It was a cloudy night, but it didn't rain, and the breeze was nice, especially after the humidity of the day. We got back down and weren't tired yet, so we watched A Knight's Tale, which they'd brought with them. That was cool.
On Saturday we slept in and bummed around for a while, then went for a walk in nearby Hogs Back Park. We brought a bunch of stale bread that I'd saved, and fed it to the ducks and Canada geese on Mooney's Bay. They swarmed us once they saw we had food, it was pretty funny. (: The ducks were chattering away as we fed them. The Canada geese were pretty bold, but they weren't as aggressive as I've had reports of, so since nobody got attacked, we all had fun. And it was a wonderful day, not humid or anything, so we walked clear to Billings Bridge. We caught a bus downtown from there, to a store that had a game Steve wanted called Star Munchkin. We wandered to Woody's from there and had a late lunch/early dinner and a beervage, then came home and played Star Munchkin and Mission Risk over a few more beverages. Steve and I played a wee bit of Sonic Heroes, and then since everyone was falling asleep anyway, we went to bed.
This morning we got up and played some more Star Munchkin, but then it was time for them to go. I did laundry that piled up over the weekend, but that could only stave off the loneliness sparked by sudden isolation for so long. I fired up the ol' emulator and started playing games. Fortunately, Adrian called and asked me if I wanted to go cycling. I said sure, hopped on my bike, and we went out to Lincoln Fields via the Experimental Farm bike path, and came back downtown along the Ottawa River pathway, stopping several times so Adrian could take pictures. We met up with Brian, chatted for a bit, went for Shawarma for dinner, and I came home.
So I can't complain about having only dial-up internet, since I've barely had a chance to use it at all. (: After such a long and busy weekend (that took nearly as long to blog as to experience!) I'm ready for bed. Keep well everyone, and an early Happy Independence Day for my American friends.