What's he on about now?

In case the articles, essays and opinions throughtout this site just weren't enough for you, here's my online diary (a.k.a. 'blog'). It's as close as you'll come to the inside of my head, so don't say I didn't warn you
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   Monday, September 20, 2004

CAN JOSH HAVE ANOTHER BIRTHDAY NEXT WEEKEND?

I'm lucky to have friends like Danielle and Josh.
They're lovely people, funny and warm, and -- though that's quite enough -- they also invited me to her cottage this weekend to celebrate Josh's thirtieth birthday.

Josh's friend Eddie drove us up to Danielle's family house in Innisfil on Lake Simcoe. The weather was cool but sunny and we'd filled the car trunk with food. Really, I haven't eaten so much in months. While our hosts were taking care of barbeque supplies, Eddie had a massive cherry cheesecake and I'd brought up a pan full of these seafood puff pastry thingies and those lime-and-pepper potato chips Josh and I are crazy about.

Then, when we stopped off at a roadside store for fresh corn, I had to buy the peach pie and maple-nut fudge. Danielle refused some fudge and Eddie declared not being "big on the maple" but, after I obviously forced it on them for their own good, they asked for more. Country fudge -- there's no denying it.

A Saturday afternoon spent doing little else than drinking beer and playing frisbee is a rare and wonderful thing.

Later, two other couples joined us -- both of them delightful -- but, as the night wore on, they had the odd effect of making Eddie and I feel very single indeed, especially when we formed teams for a board game and everyone started vaguely treating us like a couple. I could see him squirm at the notion while trying not to hurt my feelings and I felt awkward for him. Someone made a joke about the two of us "bunking up" together and I prayed for the floor to open up and swallow me.

Sillier yet was the room itself -- nearly bare with two tiny twin kid's beds covered in adorable multicoloured sheets and a pair of giant stuffed toys. There was a large Foghorn Leghorn and a big Porky Pig inexplicably clad in a black motorcycle jacket. "These have got to go," said Eddie. "They're creepy," I agreed. Josh popped his head in and asked if anything was up. "If I wanted to be around pigs in leather," I said, "I'd have stayed down on Church Street!"

It was way too late in the evening/early in the morning to get too concerned though -- most of us had stayed up till four playing poker and sampling Josh's gift bottle of scotch. Oooh, baby. And the pleasure of staying over and sleeping in far outweighed any grumblings over the beds.

At least until the morning. That's when I found out that Eddie had retreated to the living room sofa in the middle of the night on account of my horrible snoring. It's strange to feel so guilty for something you don't know how to fix but it brought back unpleasant memories of Bryce waking me up in the middle of the night with an elbow to the ribs and hissing, "Shut...UP!" Good times. On a happier note, that sofa is definitely more comfortable so Eddie was better off in the long run.

After bagels and coffee, more sun, more food, more drinking, more frisbee.
Now that's a weekend!

Labels: friends