happy misplaced turkey day :)
So.. I managed to escape the weather on Thursday and have a wonderful sunshine-y drive through the mountains. I took a 2 hour break and climbed Mt Pemigewassett, which is a 3 mi hike(up!) and has a phenomenal cliff at the top with a view across the valley. It broke up the drive and gave me my theraputic dose of forest-smell for the week :)
I had a great evening hanging out with Trevor + Corinne when I arrived at their place. They are delightfully smart and kookie in the same way as my family and I always feel at home with them.
Friday I had a nostalgic early morning breakfast.. some friends used to do a Thursday 7:30 breakfast...it was nice to have the routine and to start the day with laughter and cheap eats, where everyone knows your name. ;) I took advantage of the week-day holiday (and being in a city where I know where things are!) to do several errands, and buy housewarming and holiday/thank-you gifts for various people I was visiting. ( <3 Ten Thousand Villages!) I was going to have lunch with an ex-coworker but he was home sick so instead I got a shawarma(for some reason Lebanese lunch counters are *everywhere* in Ottawa) and sat in my favourite thinking spot by the river in the sun watching the birds. *happy sigh* Then I took over Corinne's kitchen to make a turkey-cranberry pasta salad for a potluck party. It turned out well! Cooking seems to work better when I'm not actually hungry. :)
Saturday I played a ridiculously silly and surprisingly cut-throat card game called Munchkin with some old friends in the afternoon. Lots of goofiness :) Also, I got to play with their 10 month old son. awwww. Then I went to another friends' place for a little party with another Ottawa couple who now lives in Pittsburgh but was up for the weekend spreading the news of their engagement. Champagne!
Sunday I had a long, somewhat serious, talk over banana-cinnamon french toast with my close friend Annie. Lots of changes in her life to catch up on!
Definitely a good visit :)
Apparently, y'all get your christmas trees from Canada :) I must have passed a dozen trucks full of trees at the border!