The Visits...

I have been very fortunate this last time home. I was able to meet up with a number of people over the 2+ weeks I was home and catch up on all I have missed while being away....

The Murrays
Yes I got a chance to meet with all of them who reside in Canada. It has been quite some time since I had seen Julie or Mark, so it was a real treat to see them and Maddie were able to join us for dinner at Aunt Flo and Uncle John's. True to form, we had a great dinner, great company and got to catch up with everyone.

Jen and Serena
With the advent of Facebook, I have found that I have been able to locate/catch up with a number of people that over the years I had lost touch with. During my highschool years, I spent a lot of time with Jen and Serena and they know a lot of those highschool stories that you think are just better forgotten.

It had been MANY years since we had gotten together despite being back in the area on a somewhat regular basis. Jen lives in Port with her daughter and new man and Serena has just returned to the area ~ not sure if this is a passing fancy or if it is for good. So with all of us here we decided to head out for lunch one day.

We met at Jangle's and what started as lunch at 1:30, turned into a patio afternoon once the food was finished along with a HUGE trip down memory lane. I tell you, I had forgotten some of those stories.

Despite everyone heading off in their own direction, it seems that each of us are happy with things in our world. There don't seem to be many negative things to bring us down, and those that are there, we seemed to be able to laugh off as just being part of life. Even though some things around us had changed, the laughs, the stories were still the same. It's good to know that somethings you can always seem to count on, no matter what.

The girls ~ Part Deux
Later that night, I met up with some other friends from Highschool in the new trendy coffee shop we have in Port ~ who knew we could have our own 'Central Perk'???

Molly, Sue, Nina and Cindy met up with me to catch up on all our latest adventures and just generally check in with each other. We don't always manage to get everyone together at the same time, so it was great to be able to see everyone out on a school night.

Janice and John
I'm very lucky to have had the chance to have dinner with Janice and John ~ even if I am not able to read the bill total... Honestly John, could you have found the total???

It had been about 18 months since I last saw Janice and John and they again drove the distance from Ottawa to Quebec City to see me. This time, they came from Ottawa to Port Elgin, but they have assured me that they were taking the opportunity to visit many folks over the weekend ~ I was just lucky to get them all to myself for dinner on Friday.

The Fam...
The last group of visitors included 2 sets of Aunts and Uncles. Aunt Sharon, Uncle Don, Aunt Cath and Uncle George made the trip up to Dad's for dinner on Saturday and while I would like to say it was to see me, I think the fact that Chloe was there was also a bit of a drawing card... We had a spectacular day and were able to sit out on the patio, enjoy the company and BarBQ dinner. Does it get any better than that.

Next Stop....
So the next visit will be to Athens where I will get a chance to see all of Akis' friends and family. I will be there for 3 months. While I won't be 'employed', I will be busy enough with the planning for the wedding. Perhaps it is a good thing we don't have other commitments to keep us from getting stuff done!