Weddings, Blackberries, and Political Groupies

As I sit here on a lazy Sunday evening, watching Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade while the cool air drifts in through the open window I wonder about how the past two months have flown by.

This summer was a busy one. We flew - literally - from wedding to wedding. Carlynne and Dan's was one of the most beautiful and touching weddings I have ever seen, let alone been privileged to be a part of.

Later in August Marc, Kylie and Niko came to visit us in Victoria. Niko is a fantastic house guest...Marc and Kylie, however, need some training. Kidding, of course. It was a wonderful weekend full of relaxation. We ventured out to the Sooke Potholes and had a lovely and fantastic day. We had our own private beach area (which was fortunate as Niko liked to shake out on everything in the vicinity - in particular, Craig), we brought snacks, and spent a good part of the day moving in and out of the cool water and enjoying the late summer heat.

Next weekend it was back to Edmonton to stand on the other side of the aisle, as a part of my good friend Ryan's bridal party.

The next weekend, Joanna came to visit (all the way from Singapore! don't worry, she had other people to visit too...she didn't fly all the way from Singapore just to come here for the weekend) and we had a great weekend of catching up. We went blackberry picking, made jam, went on a culinary/beverage tour of downtown Victoria which ended in us joining a only slightly random group of guys (by which I mean I'm friendly-acquaintances, maybe friends?, with one of the guys in the group) to head out dancing. We spent Sunday perusing the downtown boutiques and street market. It was so wonderful to have Joanna here. To relax together and feel like no time had passed since our last visit...her friendship is so special to me.

The weekend after that my parents came to visit for a few days and it was off for fish and chips, ice cream, tours of tall ships, walks along the ocean and more street markets. They'll be back here for Thanksgiving and they'll be running the Royal Victoria 8K with me as well as sharing a smashing turkey dinner.

Last week I went to see Jack Layton as he skipped through Victoria. The energy in the Rec Centre was crazy. I had a great time, however, and really enjoyed hearing him speak. He is very down to earth and has a knack for connecting with his audiences. It was a great meeting with a lot of interesting talk going on. After the q&a period they mentioned he had to bolt to make it to Vancouver and security escorted him through the crowds as he shook hands and gave out hugs. I looked the other way and saw an exit that wasn't secured and we ran that way to cut him off after he had exited the main room with the crowd. We ran through and - boom! - just us, a bunch of security/campaign personnel and...Jack Layton. Sara held up her camera to the chief wagoneer and we posed for our picture amidst random chat with our NDP leader. (And weirdly, I noticed that he smelled really good. So you can vote NDP - if that's your choice - knowing that Jack Layton has good personal hygiene.)

Other than these crazy - but wonderful, we love visitors! - weekends, life is good. Work is, well, work. I'm taking a pottery class with a friend and lately I've been addicted to listening to the Ricky Gervais Show (the podcasts). So so funny. I've actually taken to putting on my ipod while I'm going to bed and Craig has to shush me and tell me to shut it off because I'm laughing out loud it's so funny. Seriously, if it's the only thing you take from this post - check out the Ricky Gervais Show (oh, and once you learn who Karl Pilkington is, check out his website here).