| Morning Sweeties!
Well the days of summer have "officially" come and gone, and so too have Tuesday rollerblading events. What a fabulous end to the summer last evening with the wonderful fare offered up by none other than the fabulous Greg "Mimi" Mash! Not to be outdone by past events, this girl actually did slave over a hot stove all day serving up one of the finest home-cooked meals this girl has had since she’s been in this fare city. But, I’m getting ahead of myself … let us start at the beginning … The gregarious Gary Donovan picked up yours truly to whisk us off to wonderful Westboro where we met the other grrls waiting patiently for the stragglers such as myself (sorry for making you late Gary). We were delighted to see such a glorious turnout, including none other than MC who had his meetings in Regina cancelled due to the looming Air Canada strike (Thank you Air Canada! *grin*). But, we were happy to find out that we were not the last ones there with Jazz and Jeff pulling up the rear (take from that what you may! *grin*). The group was a great size and I would put the numbers at about 20-24. We departed at 6:15 sharp to embark on the notorious "Fruit Loop" which we all so enjoy doing! (on rollerblades Barry! on rollerblades!!)*grin* Things got off to a boisterous start with everyone in tow through the raucous Remic’s Rapids and onwards to the Champlain Bridge. Once to the other side of the bridge we waited for everyone to catch up and we were thrilled to note that Danl was not at the end of the line!! Congratulations Danl – can that grrl skate or what? Eastward along the path, heading towards that precarious park one could be overheard yelling "Oh my GAWD! Turn around grrls!" at the sight of two lovely young lads heading westbound (lucky for them, unfortunate for us .. well me anyway!) Despite my best efforts to get everyone to follow the two "yummies" we carried on through to that precocious park located directly across from that other recreational area across the river, where we stopped for some water (and some eye candy – remember that one Barry? Everything’s relative!) Mrs. Coopee started off from the park in quite an energetic manner by shoving Mrs. Noel out of her way and picking up the pace to a heart-stuttering pace. Yours truly tried to create a mock roller-derby action but, unfortunately, no one would take the prodding to get something going (get your mind out of the gutter Charlton!) Finishing the loop we ended up at the astounding abode of our renowned hostess for the evening Mrs. Greg "I ride horses" Mash and the lovely fare which she prepared for us to sup. Sweeties, can we talk about honey-glazed ham?! With cloves an' all no less. Not to mention the fabulous sauerkraut and wonderful au gratin potatoes, this feast was definitely something our little Heidi brought back from the fatherland (Austria). The meal was capped with a tasty treat of tiramisu which everyone seemed to enjoy (some more than others eh Phil & Princess? *grin*) Special attention was given by Princess to the fabulous cut flower arrangements throughout this wonderful home in one of Ottawa’s most popular gay subdivisions – Remics’. While all eyes were on the landscaping and floral arrangements, yours truly decided to take a sneak peak throughout the rest of the house. Giving myself a self-guided tour of someone’s abode is something I do whenever you’re not looking, it’s just that this is the first time that I’m admitting it. What the hell, rollerblading’s over! *grin* After having surveyed the ground floor with the kitchen and drawing room yours truly, under the guise of having to use the loo, took a quick jaunt upstairs to survey the surroundings. Having noticed that the bathroom had convenient laundry facilities, we noted that our hostess is tidy as well as practical – or so we thought. That was before we got to the "office". Well sweeties, I will be the first to admit that I don’t think I’ve seen the floor in my room for a little while but let’s just say that in comparison I am definitely on the short list for Better Homes and Gardens. Well I’d be on the short list a lot sooner than Mrs. Mash! *grin* Make sure you check out the office next time you’re over at Greg’s (don’t forget about his open-ended invitation – may I suggest sometime around 3 a.m. on a Monday?! *grin* Back to the meal, we were all thrilled to see the marvelous spread put on by Mrs. Mash, but imagine our horror when we discovered that there were home-made baked beans!!! A shriek went out from across the room, it was Princess to yours truly "Sweetie, Sweetie!!!" she cried. "What is it sweetie, what is it?" I answered, both distressed and startled. "Sweetie, there are baked beans!" she retorted "So what" I said with an ignorance comparable only to one of Dan’s boyfriends knowledge of the 1980s. But then looking over my shoulder it dawned on me as I muttered the words slowly to myself "… baked beans … Gary Donovan …OH MY GAWD!!!! Run Everyone, RUN" I cried, but it was too late Gary was up like a shot and over to the table to engage in what can only be described as a "feeding frenzy" of these notoroius gaseous legumes. There was a hush over the crowd … what were we to do? It was only a matter of time before everything exploded in our collective face. We didn’t want to be rude (well, we had already tried that and it didn’t work) but how were were going to get her to stop? We couldn’t, and ultimately we knew we would pay the price, but not as much as Greg’s poor Chippendale did! Thank gawd the cleaners were coming in tomorrow. *grin* On a serious note I would like to mention to everyone that Dan Charlton has asked that we get a group together for the AIDS Walk on September 29th (date to be confirmed). The purpose would be to pool our talents and to enjoy a nice day with our family together for a rollerblade throughout Ottawa. While it was initially suggested that we walk/run/cycle/rollerblade under the "Blade Betties" banner, it was agreed that we would mobilize ourselves under the auspices of the OGHA so as to give some more exposure to this new organization here in our Nation’s Capital. Provided that the OGHA has no reservations to this, there will be more details to follow. Princess leaned over to me at some point throughout the evening and told me that she was a bit melancholy yesterday at work. I noted that I too, was not in the best of moods and I believe I finally know why we both shared these feelings – our Tuesday evening blades were over as of this evening. This was definitely an occasion and we didn’t even realize it. But fear not grrls, we’ve got plenty of other activities that you and your families can enjoy throughout those fantastic fall months which we are headed into. Poor Gordon, I hope we didn't scare him off. Mike Bell (the former Mrs. Jacqueline Turner-Bouvier-Kennedy-Onassis) invited the poor dear into our fringe with no warning but she seemed to hold her own quite well!. Welcome Gordon and we hope to see you at future events. As a final note, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for making these Tuesday rollerblades so successful. I hope that everyone will have the opportunity to join in the activities that we come up with to bide away the cooler climes here in Ottawa and that they will be as enjoyable as our summer pastime. While no dates are planned, I just would like to give everyone a head’s up on some activities we could pursue. While not exhaustible, these are some suggestions for Tuesday evening events:
So, until next time, just keep these thoughts: "Friendship is a pretty full-time occupation if you really are friendly with somebody. You can’t have too many friends because then you’re just not really friends." Truman Capote (1924–84) "If a man does not make new acquaintance as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man, Sir, should keep his friendship in constant repair." Samuel Johnson (1709–84) Hugs and Kisses Sweeties, |