Who Said Holidays Were Restful?

We have just returned from 9 days in Lethbridge...9 days that were jam-packed full of so much activity that I have now returned to Victoria with one doozy of a cold.

We landed in Calgary and spent the day with Craig's parents. My parents joined us later in the day and we all had a wonderful dinner with some friends of Craig's parents. We played an intense round of bocce and looked at wedding pictures. The next day I returned to Lethbridge with my parents while Craig remained in Calgary with his parents. Immediately time was filled with dress-fittings, final stagette plans and spending time with my family.

It is no secret that I love my dog. I believe my first ever post was about her. Tessie was an object of my affection as soon as we brought her home from the Kennel and I took her onto the deck for some grooming and we spend much-needed cuddle time together. I always looked forward to her nuzzles, her klip-klopping around the house and the faint sound of her snoring when I was away. However, Tessie was old, and had a myriad of ailments. On Wednesday she took a turn for the worse and was unable to lift her own body. We called the vet and made an appointment for the next day, but we began to talk about the reality of Tessie's life. We eventually decided that if Tessie wasn't better the next day and if the vet concurred with our assessment that this appointment would be her last. Thursday dawned and although Tessie was able to walk we could see the struggles remained. My day was already booked with another dress fitting, an appointment, dinner with Joanna's family in BeaverMines and drinks with friends at the Keg. I am so proud of Julie and my Mum for being strong enough to make the tough decision and to be with Tessie as she was let out of her misery. Before leaving for the day, I had my time to say good-bye; to lay down with her on the floor, cuddle her again and call her every darling nickname in the book. I began to cry. Tessie looked at me, got up, licked my nose and walked away. I, needless to stay, remained on the floor in a heap. Dogs know.

But the real purpose of the trip was one of celebration. Fantastic friends were married and many more tears were shed. We jumped between activities for Kristin & Jason and Kevin & Joanna. Both weddings were perfect and unique. We enjoyed being involved in Jason & Kristin's wedding in a "behind-the-scenes" manner and I was so proud to stand up for Joanna.
But now we're back, trying to figure out how to get back to normal. It looks like lots of laundry, some grocery shopping and cleaning should get us back on track...but the trip was a success. Yes, it was hard to say good-bye to Tessie, but I was blessed to be able to be there to say that good-bye myself, and we were blessed to witness the love of two very important couples in our lives. It makes every day seem magical.