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April 22, 2003
Alicia's story;
Well, here it is!! After hearing how fantastic Amy's entry is, I can only hope that Allisun puts mine before hers so you all don't think this is the most boring drivle you've ever read in your life!
When we started talking about getting together last fall, I wasn't really sure if anyone would really do it. I mean really, it is kindof freaky to travel someplace, not really knowing the people you are meeting. You hope that everyone is sane and "normal". You hope that everyone is female. You hope that they don't have other personalities just dying to come out. I felt much better after getting a Christmas card with pictures from Allisun and an email with pictures from Amy. Whew! What a relief!! Then the planning really started after we all got through the craziness of the holidays. I was even bold enough to call Amy one night. I had this fear that even after seeing pictures, how do I know these pictures are really of her? So I thought I would call her and see if she "sounded" normal. What a relief when she did! We actually talked for over an hour and really hit it off right away. I didn't talk to Allisun on the phone, but after all the emails flying between us, I knew things would be fine. The closer the trip came, the more nervous I got. We invited others to join in the fun, but the only one to take us up on it was Jen. Again, emails went flying and I knew everything would be fine. We all exchanged pictures and it all seemed so much more real. We all confirmed the date would work for all of us and the countdown began. I was so excited and nervous at the same time. We had all found a common ground at iparenting and liked eachother so much, but would it be the same meeting face to face? You be the judge............
Thursday, I would be the first to arrive in the afternoon. I am NOT a morning person and told Allisun how special she should feel that I was waking up at 4:30AM to make my flight!! I arrived in plenty of time even with an eight car pile-up on the highway. Nothing else exciting happened on the way there. Oh! I did stop for fresh Krispie Kreme doughnuts for Remo and anyone else who would want some. I had one bag of glazed and one bag of mixed. With my luggage being so heavy (more on that later!) I put the bag of glazed doughnuts in my coat pocket. Bad move! They bit the dust when my carryon swung around my shoulder and landed on my hip. Goodbye glazed! God, I hope they like mixed!! On the shuttle from the parking lot, I notice I am the only one wearing a coat. I wasn't the only one to notice that fact. Next thing I know, everyone is asking me where I'm going. I say Montreal. They all say collectively "Ohhh" like they feel sorry for me because I am heading NORTH and they are all going someplace warm. I sigh along with them, wishing I was headed south, but I tell them all about my trip to meet my friends. More "Ohhh's" from the peanut gallery. I explain that everything is fine and we are all normal and they start to warm to the idea. At this point I am thinking "Get us to the @#$% terminal already!!". I am the first one off the shuttle and make my cumbersome way to the check in point. Our airport is screening all luggage now, so both my bags, plus my carryon had to be xrayed. I knew I would have some explaining to do. In one suitcase, I had 1 1/2 cases of Girl Scout cookies. In my carryon, I had four cans of cincinnati-style Skyline Chili. In my hand, I was carrying the bag of KK doughnuts. All they asked was "Why?" and I explained the whole thing of how they don't have KK yet in Montreal, they don't have Skyline Chili restaurants there either, and they can't get all the different kinds of GS cookies. By the time I was done, they shoved me through the line so fast so I wouldn't have to explain it all again. I'm sure they thought I was nuts. I got rid of the luggage, but still had my carryon. In my sane mind, I was thinking it would be better to have the four cans of chili in my carryon, so the xray people wouldn't think they were explosives. (Well, depending on your digestive system, they are not explosive!) ;-) But let me tell you, lugging those things all through Columbus and Pittsburgh, I had to explain why I had them to every security person I crossed. Again, they all looked at me like I was crazy. And they weighed a ton!
Thankfully, the rest of the trip up was uneventful. I arrive in Montreal with all my bags. And all the food. See where I am going with this? I had to claim everything on my customs sheet. The lady looked at me like I was crazy and sent me through the door. I was to meet Allisun right outside of customs. I get through the door and see a hundred people all looking at me. Of course, I realize they are all waiting for other people to come through the door and are not waiting to ask me why I brought so much food all up to Montreal! I scan the crowd and do not see Allisun. So I go outside. Still no Allisun. I wasn't worried, though. I waited for only about 5 minutes and see this van coming towards me. The driver was blonde, so that was a good sign. Yep, it was her! She stops in front of me and gets out. Several hugs and hellos later, we manage to get my luggage in her van. Of course, I have to explain all about the fun of traveling with so much food. At least I knew that if I were stranded somewhere, I would not go hungry! My first impression of Allisun was that she is beautiful. She has the most beautiful blue eyes. Very vibrant! I tell her she has beautiful eyes and for a moment she is stunned. She tells me she hasn't had a compliment on her eyes in a long time. She is also just as open and funny in person as she is in her diary. And she's right....she talks like she writes- FAST! We both have the gift of gab and start chattering right away. Like she promised, we head right to the pastry shop. The market there is so nice. Everything is fresh. It's almost like a mall, but each shop has a different food. I loved it! We also got some bagels and then head to her house. Her house is beautiful. It's in a very quiet subdivision. I get the grand tour and get to pick my own room since I am the first one there. Allisun also puts in her opinion that I should take the room at the end of the hall because it is the furthest away from the kids. Who get up EARLY! And did I mention that I get migraines if I don't get enough sleep? :-) It all worked out great though. I didn't get any migraines from messing up my sleep pattern. Anyway, we pass time talking in the family room until it's time to go get Amy. While we are talking, Remo comes home. Allisun introduces us and we start chatting. I remember the KK doughnuts and go out to the van to get them. I bring them and give them to Remo who treats them like they are gold. Allisun barely has a chance to utter the words "I'd like a bite of the cinnamon one!" and they are GONE! She didn't get one bite. Of course, Amy missed her chance, too since she wasn't there yet. Sorry! I think I know where Remo will be stopping every morning once the new KK store opens!
Off we go to get Amy from the airport and the butterflies start again. Allisun decides it would be best if she lets me off at the door while she drives in a circle around the airport so she doesn't have to park. So I hop out and go in for Amy. The only pictures I had seen of Amy were from her wedding. In her pictures she had blonde hair and didn't wear glasses. I start scanning the crowd and register each face, referencing the picture I had in my mind of Amy. I see a face and think "Could that be her? Nooo" and finally decide that she must not be there yet. I stand in the crowd scanning each person coming through the door. After a few minutes, I start to wonder if she made it passed me. I turn around and scan the crowd again. Nope. Turn back around and watch the people coming out for a few more minutes. By this time I'm thinking she has to be here by now. I turn around once more and she comes from behind me and asks "Alicia?" at the same time I ask "Amy?"! It turns out that it's the same person I first saw when I got there! After hugs and hellos, I apologize for not recognizing her. But now she has brown hair and glasses. Not all my fault right?! Her flight was early and she stood there for about 20 minutes. I felt so bad! We go out to catch Allisun and get Amy's luggage in the van. My first impression of Amy was that she was a little more reserved in person, but warm and intelligent. Off we head to Allisun's house again.
Allisun's Aunt Dee Dee was going to be arriving with Brandan and Kaillan soon. I was nervous about meeting her because Allisun has written so much about her and I was hoping to meet her approval. I have to say that she is the most welcoming, warm, gracious person and we would all be blessed to have an Aunt Dee Dee in our lives! Brandan was sick when he came home, poor guy. After hearing all the stories of him, I knew he didn't feel well when he just wanted to lay on the couch. Remo took him to the dr. and got some meds for him. But the whole evening he was down for the count. I felt so bad for him. He was actually moaning because his ears hurt so much. Kaillan was a little shy at first, but came around quickly. She is a bundle of energy, quick as a wink, and just as cute as can be! For dinner, Allisun and Dee Dee fixed a salad that was just awesome. I can't remember everything that was in it, but it was all healthy. I begged for the recipe and Allisun, I am still waiting for it! :-) For the rest of the evening, we all just sat around and talked. It was very relaxing. Kaillan took an immediate liking to Amy and she is great with kids. She's going to be a great mom! As we were all talking, I realized that Remo is very similar to my husband, Bill. They don't look anything alike, but their mannerisms and personalities are so close. In fact, Remo said something to me that he was joking about ( I don't remember what it was) and before I could stop myself, I threw a wadded up paper towel at him and hit him between the eyes!! I was shocked at myself and immediately apologized. But everyone was cracking up! Allisun just said that it opened me up to him picking on me the rest of the time, which was fine. I can take it as well as I can dish it out. I am so glad that he took it well and was laughing. All I can say is, that whatever he said was similar to what Bill would say that I treated him like I would treat Bill. Thankfully, it brought a good laugh to everyone! We girls stayed up past midnight talking and eventually headed off to bed.
Friday morning we all get up and get ready. It takes Allisun about 5 minutes to get ready. It takes Amy about 30 minutes to get ready. It takes me forever because I had the worst high maintenance haircut that drove me nuts! (The hair is all gone now, girls! I know, it's too late now, but I love it! I get ready in 30 minutes now. Aren't you proud of me?!) Then Allisun's friend Claudia came over to join us for shopping that day. Claudia is very friendly and pretty. We all got along great. She brought along her little boy who is just the cutest and happiest baby I think I have ever seen! We start off at the Osh Kosh sale. I found a few pieces for Alaina, but it's hard with her getting bigger. It's definitely the place to go if you have little kids and babies! Then we headed off to a mall. It is the most beautiful mall I've ever seen. It's set up just like American malls with each shop being separate, but each store front looked like it was out of a European village. Words can't describe it, it was beautiful. We went into one shop that was very trendy. I bought Alaina a beautiful sweater with embroidered flowers and beads on it. Of course, I buy nothing for myself. Then we hit the Gap. Jackpot!! I bought so many things for Alaina for next school year and this summer. My arms were full. The prices were much better there than the stores here at home. I took advantage of the space I gained in my luggage after delivering the GS cookies! Then I found a shoe store. I love shoes and was hoping to find something I like there. I found a pair of ankle boots that are kindof like Eastlands but prettier. They only cost me $20 American. What a deal!! They are so comfortable. I really wish I had bought another pair! We then headed home, but on the way we picked up Claudia's daughter, Sabrina, who has the most beautiful head of hair. She is also a happy child and just a sweet little girl. We also picked up chicken for dinner and then head to Allisun's house. Claudia left to join her family for dinner in the city. Dee Dee came home along with Remo and the kids. Thankfully, Brandan was feeling much better and was his normal self. He was much more active than the night before and you could tell he felt better. He's a smart little boy who acts older than his age. He's like this miniature little man. He even makes his own toast and doesn't burn it. I forget all of the little details from the evening, but I'm sure Allisun and Amy will fill you in.
Saturday morning, Jen joins us! She looks just like her pictures. She brought doughnut holes from Tim Horton's so we all loved her immediately! Hey, give us food and we're happy! She is more reserved than I thought, but I think part of it was from nerves. But again, we all got along great and started chatting right away. We planned a day of sight-seeing in Montreal. So we all start to pile in the van. Remo would be driving. Allisun decided to have the kids seats switched around with room for one adult and one child in the middle seat and two adults and one child in the back. The only problem was that with how they were switched around, Jen only had about 6 inches of space to sit. Remo kept telling Allisun it wouldn't work. Once we see that Jen wouldn't have a seat, Allisun comes up with another idea in moving them around. We all think it's a good idea and then Remo says "That's how I had them to begin with!" and of course we all start laughing! We all got situated. I sat up front with Remo because sometimes I get headaches if I sit in back. Especially if we are going to be driving alot. We head into Montreal and go to the underground mall. It was definitely a neat place. Very artistic and, well, European. We had lunch and walked around a bit. But we were all shopped out from Friday, so we just looked. Then we went into the old part of Montreal. It is absolutely one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. The buildings are all about 200-300 years old. The architecture had my jaw to the floor the entire time. I was really looking forward to taking some great pictures, but the weather that was supposed to be warm never showed up and it snowed! I bought some postcards for the pictures instead, which was fine. We also drove up to the hill where there were some beautiful houses and a gorgeous cathedral. Even the hospital was beautiful. The way the city is laid out reminded me of San Francisco. Very pretty. All the driving did give me a headache, but I took some medicine and kept it from going into a migraine. That was my biggest worry the entire time. The last thing I wanted was to lose a day because of my headaches. Thankfully, they stayed away while I was there. After all the sightseeing, we went back to Allisun's house to meet up with a bunch of her friends and go to dinner. All of her friends are wonderful. We had a great Italian dinner and wonderful conversation. We continued the conversation back at Allisun's house for awhile. Allisun has a great group of friends who all care about her. We were definitely an international group. We are all from different countries. And the conversation reflected that even though we may come from different places, we can find we have things in common. Being wives, being mothers, being women, being friends. They were all curious about us meeting Allisun on the internet and how we all became friends before we even met. The way I explain it is: In real life, you meet people each day that you may or may not like. You may or may not have things in common. You take time to find things you do have in common and make friends who are like ourselves. On iparenting, all the preliminary questions are taken care of. We all know what we have in common. We all know we share the same experiences in life no matter where we come from. So we can become friends faster. Again, it was a great evening and a treat to meet her friends. They were all welcoming to us.
Sunday morning, Jen heads home and we wish her a safe trip. Hugs and goodbyes being sadly said. Her stay was just too short! Remo, Allisun, the kids, Amy, and I all head out for the day. We went to the Biodome in Montreal. It was interesting with animals and plants from the four different weather regions of the world. I had no idea what some of the animals were, but I took pictures anyway because I knew I'd never be able to describe them at home. I bought a shirt and some trinkets for Alaina. I don't remember all the details of the day, but I know that Amy and Allisun wrote their versions right after the trip, so I'm sure they'll provide more details! It was a fun day!
On Monday, we went to the famous IKEA! I must admit that I had built it up in my mind so much from what everyone said about it that I was a little disappointed. I did like some things they had there, though. And I picked up an adorable finger puppet set for Alaina. We had lunch there, too, which was very good. I didn't have the meatballs, though. I had the quiche and it was delicious. Of course, I also had to buy some of the chocolate! I forgot to say that Dee Dee was with us for the day, too. It was nice spending more time with her and the conversation was always nice. We all headed to Brandan's hockey lesson. Boy, let me tell you, one day we'll see his name on a jersey in the NHL! That kid can skate! Of course he had to show off a little and was so cute! I also forgot to mention that Kaillan wasn't with us during the day, and it's amazing how much you can miss her. Anyway, after the lesson we went to the shopping club and picked up some things. It's like a Costco. Then Allisun said she needed to stop at the grocery store. I'm sure the other girls wrote about this, but it was so funny I have to put in my two cents! Allisun parks in the fire lane right in front of the store saying she'll only be a minute and just needs to pick up a couple of things. (If you know Allisun, you are also thinking "yeah, right!"). So we wait.....and wait.......and wait. Then I started taking bets from Dee Dee and Amy as to how many bags they think she'll have. Amy says 3, Dee Dee says 5, and I said at least 7. Then we wait......and wait......and wait some more. We finally see her coming out with a loaded cartful of stuff!! I immediately started cracking up! I forget what I won on that bet, but it was fun anyway. Probably more funny in person, but anyway. We head back to Allisun's house with plans to grill out hamburgers and hot dogs, veggies, and the cincinnati style Skyline Chili to top the hot dogs. Yum!! Remo comes home with Kaillan and then Allisun's grandmother joins us for dinner as well. She was very enjoyable. Again, loving and friendly like everyone else I had met. After dinner, I finally get my knitting lesson from Amy. I am struggling, but doing ok. Then Remo decides he can do it faster than I can, so Amy teaches him as well. THAT was FUNNY!!! He whips through the first row, gloating. I tell him the first row is a breeze. It's the rows after that that are hard. He doesn't believe me until he gets there. Seeing this big Italian man trying to contort his fingers to knitting positions was absolutely hilarious!! He gave up after a while, though. I'm sure he would be good at it if he ever had the time to do it. He had a knack for it! We girls stayed up late again. We stayed up late every night just talking. It was hard to believe that it was our final night there. I missed my family terribly, but knew I would miss Allisun and her family as well. One night, Allisun fell asleep on the couch with Kaillan while Amy and I talked. I looked over at Allisun and Kaillan and saw heaven. Kaillan is the biggest bundle of energy I have ever seen. But seeing her cuddled up on the couch with Allisun was just so precious. It actually made me cry because it was so sweet. I miss those times with my daughter. As they get older, you have a hard time remembering those little moments. And it's those little moments that you want to hold near to your heart forever.
Tuesday morning was spent packing everything up and getting my final knitting lesson. I was doing pretty well, but was scared at what would happen when I got home and hit a snag. (And rightly so, I found out!). I must say that this experience is something I will treasure for the rest of my life. I met some of the most fantastic people and am blessed with having these ladies in my life. Amy is so good with kids. Kaillan loved her and Brandan was fascinated by her knitting. The times when he was the most quiet were sitting watching Amy knit. He was captivated! Amy was sick the whole time she was with us, but was a real trooper. She kept up with us and stayed up with us. She is a great girl who really has her act together. She is smart and knows her mind and stands up for what she believes in. Amy, it was a joy to meet you and I really can't wait til we meet up again! Jen, the time was definitely too short! I loved hearing what she does with her job because I used to work for a publishing company, too. She is fun and warm and just a sweet person. Allisun......boy, where do I start? Allisun is smart, funny, loving, beautiful, and exactly how she represents herself in her diary. She is real. I don't know how to explain that. But she is real. She has a wonderful set of friends. And she has a very loving family including Remo who is so off-the-wall funny. They are a very loving family. I feel truly blessed to have been welcomed into their lives. And hats off to Remo for being brave enough to let women into his home who he had no idea if they were psychos or not! The kids are adorable and definitely keep Allisun and Remo on their toes! Allisun says she's not sure how they will do it with three kids. But let me tell you, they will be fine! Their house is always in a state of chaos and I don't think they'd know what to do if it weren't. It works for them and they are perfect that way. Allisun, thank you for letting us into your life. It was a very enjoyable long weekend. We definitely have to plan a yearly event and hopefully next time more ladies can join in. Everyone missed a great time!
On the flight home, I wasn't allowed to carryon my knitting needles. So thankfully I still had a good book to read. There was awful turbulence. I don't do well with turbulence ever since on one flight it was so bad that we dropped almost 1000 feet and I thought I was going to die. My layover was in Pittsburgh which was fine with me. I love that airport. It's a mall with an airport attached! The flight from Pitt to Columbus is only about an hour. This nice gentleman was seated next to me. We talked enough that I learned he had 10 year old twins. One boy and one girl. We chatted for a little bit and I stuck my nose in my book. We hit turbulence that was bad enough that I closed my book, looked out the window, and I started praying that we would make it home. Just when I thought it was over, we hit a patch that was really bad. I gasped and grabbed ahold of the armrests. For some reason it registered with me that the left armrest was soft. I looked down and was MORTIFIED to see I had grabbed ahold of the man's THIGH!!!!!! I apologized profusely. I was so embarrassed!! He kept saying it was ok and he understood, but I just wanted to crawl under that seat. The people in front of us heard the commotion and were laughing as well. It did turn out fine, but it made for a great story to tell my husband when I got home. Boy was my face red!
I called Bill as soon as I landed. I wanted to make sure that Alaina would still be up when I got home because I just HAD to have one of her hugs. She did not disappoint. As soon as she heard the back door open, she came running and threw herself into my arms. I just held her for awhile and smelled her hair and felt her breathe. She told me she missed me sooo much. That's my heaven!
Well, that's it for me. I hope you all enjoy reading my version of what happened. Maybe this will convince more of you to join in the next get together. You won't regret it!
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