MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

Well...the American's sure love their holidays. In fact, looking at the calendar yesterday made me realize they've managed to put at least one long weekend into almost every month. Sweet for us, since we get to take advantage of that while we're here! And to make it even sweeter (since I'm sure I'll end up working the 4th of July), I had 3 of the 4 days of the holiday off. So, I kept myself busy, taking full advantage of the warm weather (though not as hot as it turned out to be in Ontario that weekend) and the surrounding entertainment.

FRIDAY NIGHT

At each home game, these kayakers gather out on the bay and wait to catch any balls that go flying out of the park. With Barry Bonds constantly pursuing the home-run record, there seem to be more of them each time I go by (alright, that may not even be what he's going after...but since I'm not a baseball fan anyway.....it's as good a guess as any).

Shelly, Kara and Kristi

Shelly and I

Barry Bonds: he was planning on attempting another of his record-setting home-runs, but, sadly, it was not to be.

P.S. He gets booed across the rest of the country, but they just LOVE him here! Gets a standing ovation every time.

Watching the fireworks, put on after the game was done

SATURDAY

We made our way to the Castro Theatre (notice the rainbow flag) for an Evita Sing-A-Long. The moving is as exciting as watching grass grow, but it was so much fun. We sang and stamped our feet and stood up and cheered and ran up and down the aisles. Kendrah and I have decided we're totally going back. Sound of Music, here we come!

Inside the theatre. It has a gorgeous old organ that is worth the price of admission just to see

After the Sing-A-Long, we headed down to North Beach -the Little Italy of San Francisco. Cute and crowded and a bit of a European feel to it. There were tons of sidewalk cafes and restaurants and little shops to browse in. We wandered...and wandered...and wandered. And finally stumbled on the Coit Tower, which we'd seen from the Wharf before. As Kendrah (of course!) pointed out, it has an awfully phallic name and shape. Interesting, n'est pa? Anyway, being both adventurous and a bit stupid, we decided to visit the tower, instead of admiring it from afar, as we should have.

Yes, yes, this is a gorgeous view of the city from the top of the tower. But that is not the purpose of this picture. Pay attention please...as this is some information from the girl who HATES to walk. Give me a bike and tell me to go 20 miles and I'm cool with that. Ask me to walk for 10 min and I'm in a crusty mood for days!

Now, do you see the bit of green space near the top of the picture? That is Washington square, where we started our journey. And where we ended was not anywhere remotely close to that! Afterwards we figured out we'd covered most of the (extensive) downtown area on foot -from the Powell/Market shopping district, to the tower, and then back through Chinatown. Talk about some hills to climb!

Views from different areas of the tower

SUNDAY

Kendrah had to work, so I headed out with some friends to a Farmer's Market in Mountain View. Compared to the crap we find at Safeway most days, this stuff was beautiful and pretty inexpensive. Afterwards, we filled up on some delicious sushi from a floating boat restaurant in Mountain View.

Shelly and Kristi

MONDAY

Sadly, I have nothing to report from the actual holiday itself. I slept and worked and that about sums up the day. But the rest of the weekend rocked! And if any of you are in town when the Castro is playing the Sound of Music or the Wizard of Oz, expect to be dragged along to the theater for a fantastic afternoon of singing and stomping.

ROBYN AND BRENDAN'S WEDDING

I made my first trip home the first week in May, for Robyn and Brendan's wedding. Being back was great -got to catch up with some friends and stopped by work to see how everyone there was doing. But....the visit was far too short. I wish I could have extended it for another 4 or 5 days, just to have time to see everyone, and to relax a little bit more.

Regardless, a great trip home.

Now, about Brendan and Robyn's wedding: it was FANTASTIC! Over the last couple of years, I've been to my share of weddings and this one was one of the most well-done events I've been to. It was beautiful and tasteful and laid-back and entertaining. The bride and groom were both gorgeous and basically glowing with happiness.

The speeches were funny, the food was tasty and the alcohol was plentiful. All-in-all, a great combination. When I get married, I'll be lucky if my wedding turns out to be anything as enjoyable as this!

Congratulations Robyn and Brendan!

The New Couple

Robyn and I: Post-Dinner, Pre-Excessive Alcohol Intake

Catching the garter

Okay, I've done the sappy, look-how-happy-everyone-is-to-be-here bit. Now it's time for my cynical the-world-is-a-big-ole-mess and what-the-hell-is-going-on-here rant.

Did you expect anything less?

After a great (albeit rushed) visit home, I headed back via NWA and the skies above. My flight was scheduled to leave Buffalo at 5:02 pm.

5:00 pm: sitting in the terminal, waiting to board. And waiting on a supposed "quick" oil change.

5:30 pm: sitting, having just been told we're "waiting on a part".

5:45 pm: STILL SITTING, waiting to board.

Hmm....my connecting flight leaves Detroit at 7:03 pm and it's at least an hour-long flight to get there. In my unique "I'm too nice for my own good sometimes" way, I approach the ticket agent who tells me "your flight will land at 6:57 pm, so I bet you'll make your connecting flight". Said with a big, plastic smile.

Ummm....(confusion in my brain)......I'll make my connecting flight in SIX MINUTES??? I won't even get off the AIRPLANE in those 6 minutes.

So, I called NWA and switched my flight, to skip Detroit and head straight to Minneapolis. When I left at 6:50 pm, my original flight was STILL sitting on the ground. Arrived in Minn 20 min late (due to some stomach-churning circling we'd done in the air) and RAN for my connecting flight that was supposed to leave at 8:50 pm. I arrived, sweating and panting and generally flustered, before my plane had left the ground. And thought I was a lucky girl for having made my connecting flight.

I should have saved myself the run.

We sat in the airplane (locked in like sardines is more like it) for over TWO HOURS waiting for the nasty thunderstorm to pass. In short, my 7 hour flight lasted a whopping 13 hours...good lord.