 | Diary Navigation:
|
April 23, 2003
Jen's side of things;
Montreal
March 29 and 30, 2003
So there I was, a relative "newbie" in the world of iParenting, and a virtual stranger to Allisun, who had generously invited me to stay in her home for a night. I felt like I "knew" her fairly well as a result of readingher diary, and I already knew I would like her in person. The other two girls that were to be there, Amy F and Alicia, I "knew" from their frequent posts, then e-mails, before and leading up to the weekend in Montreal. I already knew I liked these girls too; they are great fun. So I looked forward to the weekend with much anticipation and excitement, and a bit of trepidation too - will they like me too? Will it be awkward and shy? Will the friendly ease of our online conversations translate itself in real life? Am I the total stranger walking into a group of already-good friends?
Since I had to work all day Friday and be back at work Monday morning, my visit would be much shorter than the other girls' stay. And they would already have met and spent at least a day together by the time I arrived. So these were my thoughts and feelings (and a few niggling doubts) in the week leading up to the big weekend. All day Friday at my desk, I was too excited to do any work and was obsessively checking the message boards all day. Naturally, it was a quiet day on iParenting, and I was pulling my hair out by 5 pm. I got home at 5:30, threw my bag in the car, and was on the road by 6. I only drove as far as my parents' house in Ottawa (4 hours) that night, and got there at 10 pm, just in time for bed. Despite being full of anticipation for the next morning, the long drive made me so tired I (thankfully) fell asleep instantly.
The alarm was set for about 6:30 am. Of course, I woke up at about 5:55 am (don't you just hate that??) and couldn't get back to sleep for that last half hour. I lolled about for about 10 minutes and then got up to face my exciting day. The weather was grey and dreary, and threatened rain, but that didn't come close to dampening my spirits. After a quick shower, I hit the road, stopping briefly for gas, a map of Montreal (just in case) and a Party Pak of Timbits (a.k.a. donut holes) to bring for breakfast. I managed to only eat about four or five of them on the two-hour drive, amazingly enough. Between my dad and Allisun's directions, I was fairly confident in being able to get to Montreal, get on the right highway and find her house easily. If anyone's ever driven in or through Montreal, you'll understand that figuring out where you're going and getting to it alive and safe is no small feat. I think I drove a bit too fast. I got there in 1.5 hours, and pulled into Allisun's neighbourhood early. I didn't want to show up early and find them all still in bed (yeah right, as if with a toddler and preschooler in the house, anyone would still be sleeping at 9:30 am!) so I pulled over and called the house from my cell phone. Or maybe it was a brief bout of stage fright on my part that made me call ahead. Anyway, a small child answered and I asked for Allisun. The resulting drop of the phone and hollering at least assured me that the household was awake and mobile. After a minute of two of more hollering and confusion on the other end, a woman's voice came on.
"Allisun?" I asked. Her voice sounded different from what I'd imagined.
"Yes?"
"It's Jen, and I'm early. I'm just around the corner and I wanted to make sure you were all up before I rang the doorbell."
"Oh! Where are you? In our neighbourhood?? Good thing I just took the curlers out of my hair! Come on over!" Driving down her street and arriving at her house had this sort of surreal quality to it, like it was all just pretend. I was still struggling with the fact that I was indeed about to meet all these imaginary Internet-based characters in real life.
When I rang the doorbell, Amy opened the door and I probably said something stupid like, "You're Amy!" Thankfully, I've forgotten. But Amy looked exactly like her pictures, only taller and even prettier in real life. I stepped into the front hall, and was greeted by Kaillan in some cool pink sunglasses and Brandan whizzing by at top speed. Next came Allisun, still in her flannel PJs but with freshly curled hair and a cute little preggo belly. I think one of the first things out of her mouth was, "Oh wow, you look just like my cousin!" Then came Alicia, all smiles and warmth and friendliness. There were about two minutes where my shyness got the best of me and I was at a loss for words, but soon enough we were all sitting in Allisun's family room, chit-chatting and being constantly entertained by Brandan and Kaillan.
Next thing I know, Alicia and Amy whipped out a bunch of pictures of people and places from back home. I saw pics of Alicia's beautiful Victorian house, her adorable daughter Alaina and wedding photos of her and her husband, Bill. Amy brought wedding photos and a really cute picture of her and her sister when they were little. I, in my disorganized state, had failed to bring any pictures at all, but they'd all seen a few e-mailed photos of my wedding etc. so I didn't worry myself about it. Oh, and Allisun brought out an old photo album to show me pictures of my long-lost twin, her cousin!
Next on the agenda was deciding what to do for the day. The weather was rainy and getting cooler by the minute, so a driving (as in, not walking) tour of Old Montreal was in order. Every last one of us (myself, Alicia, Amy, Allisun, Remo, Brandan and Kaillan) piled into the minivan. Considering that we were five adults and two children, this was no small feat. The ensuing confusion and chaos was quite comical. After a few rounds of musical chairs and trying various seating configurations with the kids' large car seats, we all finally buckled up and hit the road. The rest of that day was a whirlwind of driving, shopping and eating. We made a quick stop at Beavertails, where we all sampled one of those fine delicacies. Brandan had a chocolate Beavertail and managed to squish out all the chocolate onto his pants, the car seat, the floor and Allisun. I think she even had chocolate in her eyebrow. We drove on. It was decided we'd visit one of the underground shopping malls and have lunch in a food court there. Once in the mall, we hit the food court and had lunch. Poor Kaillan decided that this is where she'd have a major meltdown. She did not want to be in her stroller, but she couldn't be allowed to run freely all over the food court, either. I admired Allisun and Remo's patience - just one of several times during my stay when their excellent parenting skills were evident. Finally Remo picked her up and wandered off, and returned five minutes later with Kaillan calm and settled. After eating, we hit a postcard shop for Amy and Alicia to nab some souvenirs, then went back to the van. The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur of driving and sightseeing. We went up the mountain (there is a mountain in the middle of Montreal) and all over the city. It was too cold and rainy to get many good photos, but I think Amy and Alicia managed one from the top of the mountain overlooking the city. Brandan and Kaillan eventually fell asleep and I think we got back to the house at around 5ish.
So the plan was to go out for dinner, just us girls, plus some of Allisun's girlfriends from her "real" life. There wasn't much time between getting back from the day of shopping/driving and going out for dinner, and Allisun's friends started to arrive soon after our return. Allisun and Remo unearthed some exotic beverages for us to try, and after only two drinks I cut myself off - those things were potent! Once the introductions had been made, we all piled into the minivan and headed for the restaurant, a cosy little Italian place not far from A's house. During dinner I ended up seated across from Allisun and beside her friend Annabelle, who insisted I knew her from somewhere. Much of our conversation went, "did you ever live here?" or "did you go to this school?" since I must admit, she looked familiar to me too! However, despite our best efforts, we couldn't figure out if, how or where we have met previously. Throughout the meal, it became apparent that Allisun has fantastic friends - fun, engaging girls with great senses of humour. We all had a great time getting to know one another but too soon the meal ended and we left the restaurant.
Back at Allisun's house, we decided it was time for the much-anticipated knitting lesson from Amy. She is a knitting dynamo and even teaches it back home. So I had come prepared with needles and assorted other items in order to learn the skill from her. We sat on the sofa for a couple of hours just knitting (Amy), tangling yarn (me), watching the knitting with great concentration (Brandan) and we all chatted until quite late into the night. This was by far one of my favourite parts of the whole trip, just sitting and talking. Unfortunately sleep soon got the best of us and we all hit the hay around 1ish. Oh, but not before Alicia whipped out gifts for everyone - adorable photo frames to frame a group photo of all of us!
Let me just slip this paragraph in here to talk about Allisun's house. You probably all read in her diary a while back that they were building their dream house, and let me tell you, this would be anyone's dream house. It is big yet warm and cosy, beautifully decorated yet comfortable, brand new yet with all those details that give a house character and charm, and just really, really nice.
I woke up around 8:30 (although it may have been earlier). I heard lots of racket downstairs and assumed everyone was up. So I snuck into the bathroom, showered, got dressed and headed downstairs, noticing that the doors to the bedrooms where Amy and Alicia were sleeping were still closed. Nobody downstairs. I followed the racket to the basement where I found Remo, Brandan and Kaillan playing foosball (well, Remo and Brandan playing foosball and Kaillan trying to catch the ball from the table and getting very mad in the process!). I hung out there for two minutes before heading back upstairs to see about breakfast. I downed a glass of OJ and started practising my knitting and then Allisun appeared, then the other two girls. Allisun was up for about 20 minutes and all was peaceful before the kids came up from the basement and noticed her. Breakfast was in full swing, with Remo in charge of bacon and eggs and potatoes, and Brandan and Allisun on the blender making smoothies (yum!) and in charge of pancakes as well. They made a fantastic meal, and Kaillan got hold of the blueberries and soon had blue-stained hands and face - too cute! And I think Amy even choked down some potatoes (just thought I'd record that for the books)!
The morning drew on, and it soon became time for me to hit the road home. I had a daunting six-hour drive all the way back to Toronto ahead of me, and I had to have the car home by a certain time so that Chris (DH) could play hockey. I started to talk about leaving and Allisun hit the kitchen, and came out 15 minutes later having whipped up a lovely gourmet lunch for my trip (which I later found out contained a lovely chicken and grilled veggie sandwich, a granola bar, cubed canteloupe and watermelon in a plastic container, a plastic fork, a napkin ... - it's the little things, you know?). Very mother-like, and very sweet of her. We all gathered in the front hall and said our goodbyes. It was sort of strange, in that I felt like I just met these girls (I had just met these girls, after all!) and now I had to go home. Hugs all around, with a "see you on the boards!" and I was gone.
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
