Milestones

Life is made up of many milestones. Depending on your religion, culture and family background those milestones may vary. When you're a kid you don't too much care about milestones other than birthdays. As I get older I start to understand the significance of these points in history much more. What must be even stranger is being our parents and watching these milestones pass by.

Yesterday was one of those milestones. Yesterday was Karen's bridal shower. It really was surreal. I can't believe we're at this point in our lives now. I've known Karen since we were fourteen and it's still hard to believe we're adults and that this is that moment in time. Fifteen years now separate us from the days of riding our bikes around the neighbourhood and picking out our dream houses. Now we're at the point where we are buying houses. I can't even say that this is the way I imagined it would be. I imagined it different.

Karen and I were never the types of girls that talked about our weddings. We didn't think that far ahead. It wasn't something we dreamed of as much as it was something we just expected would happen at a certain point in time. At least I did. That was a different way of looking at life as if it was an already plotted timeline. That was my 'Thunder Bay' view of the world and it's very different than my 'Toronto' view of the world.

For Karen it is unfolding like a perfectly plotted timeline and that is the way she likes it. For me, it's The Road less travelled. I no longer see life as being a frozen TV dinner that you just pull out of a grocery store freezer knowing full well what you're getting. Now, it's more of a choose your own adventure novel. I end up at dead ends a lot but I trust that somehow I will end up where I'm supposed to.

The shower went well. It was a small group and we only played three games which I planned. I'm one of those people who doesn't enjoy shower games so I kept them to a minimum and made them not so ridiculous.

Yesterday evening I got to see Karen's nieces Tia and Ivy. They are both so cute. Ivy is so grown up since I last saw her. I begin to understand how parents say that they grow up so fast. This was the first time I have met Tia and she'll be a year old soon. She is SO cute. Derek put her on the ground and she crawled right up to me and climbed into my lap. SO adorable!

She just wanted to crawl all over creation. So I followed her around to make sure she didn't get into anything she wasn't supposed to. Mimi, Karen's mother's dog also followed the kids around. She is SO cute too. She looks like an ewok. It was so much fun playing with the kids.

After that I met up with the gang for coffee at our old haunt Seattle Coffee house. Got caught up and then headed home.

I've spent the majority of today packing and my mother and Babcia have stocked up my food supply. I'm sure Babcia gave me 14 dozen perogies in the bags she threw at me. My mother gave me two containers of her turkey soup, her homemade chocolate sauce, cheese from the cheese farm and chocolate chip cookies. I think I'm set for a while.

Tonight when I get back Auntie Carol is having me for dinner. It will be nice to see her. First I have to make the trek back with this monster suitcase of food.