Good bye my friend

I think it was my second blog that I mentioned the devastating news that Bob the cat had a tumor.  Today was his last day with us.

Bob was a diabetic for close to a decade and was doing wonders with the insulin he was receiving. However, after watching him struggle from the effects of this tumor with his balance, incontinence, and weight loss it was time to make the hard decision and take him for his last ride.

So, I will say this and keep it short and simple.  Good bye to my buddy, my companion, and my pet.  I know you're with the people who matter most and I know you are now at peace.  You will be missed not only for your unfaltering love, but for your brain.  You're the only cat I knew who thought things through and learned from trail and error.  That being said, you're also the only cat I knew who had audible gas and could clear a room with one fart.  No matter what though, you always provided me with a smile when I needed it.

My chest will always be available for you if you want to come for a visit and a cuddle.

Good bye buddy, say hi to mom and be a good boy.

Love ya lots

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Booked and ready

Ok so I slacked off for a bit on this and now have a lot to catch up on.  My original plan was to give regular updates to the wedding plans as they developed.

Well, the developments have been fast and furious!

Since announcing our engagement, the Hot Scot and I have already set a date, booked a hall, booked the service facility, set the menu, and most recently, she found her dress!  Not bad for only being engaged a month eh??

So let's start with the place:

Our wedding date is July 14th 2012 and will be hosted by the lovely Villa Columbo.  This is a huge Italian community area with restaurants, art galleries, seniors residents, work out facilities, and the list continues.  And of course they have a wedding garden to host the ceremony, as well as 2 banquest halls. We found this place many years ago through my uncle who is a regular to the restaurant and their many specialty dinner evenings. 

As soon as I started correspondance with the wedding planner at Columbus I knew we were in for a treat and special occasion.  After going to see everything for the first time, (as I have only ever been in the restaurant), it was stunning.  Even in the aftermath of winter the gardens still showed such wonderful potential for summer, and the outdoor ceremony area was equally as beautiful.

http://www.columbuseventcentre.com/gallery.php

The link will send you to the photo gallery of the Columbus Event Centre.  It will show pictures of everything, but sadly they do not do it all justice.  In the 4th picture you will see an arial view of the ceremony location.  However, hidden behind the trees in the upper right is the actual raised stage where the wedding party will be standing during the ceremony.  The is a layered brick wall backdrop behind to enclose and frame the stage to make is almost like an ampitheatre.  Pictures 1,2,9,10 show the Joseph Carrier Art Gallery where we will be having our reception.  It is a round room with curving staircases on either side leading to a second floor catwalk style set up.  We have access to the second floor as well as the main floor and it is recommended that the DJ set up on the second floor so they can overlook the entire event but not be in the way.  Naturally, there are food pictures in the link too, but I will also attach the link to their entire menu which we had to choose from....not an easy task as everything is delicious!  They have even won awards for their risotto and other dishes.

http://www.columbuseventcentre.com/pdf/menu_wedding.pdf

Here is the entire menu which we had to choose from.  Wow, what a quest.  I won't go into all the menu details but we can say with confidence that no one will go thirsty or hungry at our wedding.  I will say that we will have appetizers floating around before the dinner, there's a traditional antipasto, pasta and risotto plate, a 2 meat main course with sides, and dessert.....all of which will be followed by 2 late night tables and an open bar.

Now then, onto the dress.  While I have no clue what it looks like, or anything else to that matter, I do know that the Hot Scot has gotten herself a dress.  Her friend Al, who phoned us in New Orleans the day after the engagement crying with joy, has offered to not only do the hair and make-up for the bridal party, but also lent out his shopping skills and helped find the dress for the Hot Scot.  So, needless to say, we owe Al a big thank you.  He's offered to be a flower girl at the wedding, but somehow the big hairy guy in pink might be a bit much, but I think we are going to hand him a basket of flower petals while the ceremony takes place so he can throw the petals afterwards.

I will do my best to keep this better updated as things progress and to just speak my mind when the mood swings.  For now however, I'm going to go and enjoy a nice roast beef dinner with all the fixings.

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It's official

Well, it’s official, I am engaged!

It seems such an odd thing to be saying consider the large amount of bad luck I have had with relationships.  However, the Hot Scot and I are a great match.  She is a wonderful person and I am happy to be around her.

So, I guess I should start with how this engagement came to be.  The plan actually started in January 2011 when we were discussing things to do for March Break.  Originally we were going to visit her brother in Amsterdam.  A cool idea, but would certainly make for some interesting comments from my students upon return.  Instead, Hot Scot and a friend from Tennessee, (Aramat), started talking about getting together.  Needless to say, by January 12^th, I had not only bought an engagement ring secretly, but we were also buying plane tickets to New Orleans!

 We made it through January without me saying anything to anyone about the engagement ring.  I had ordered it online so it really wasn’t in the front of my mind until it arrived.  Considering I had never seen it physically and only ordered through pictures, I was very pleased with it.  As you can see, this is the picture I had to go by. 



Once the ring was in my possession it started to become real.  I had a dinner function with some family and figured I would test the waters to see if in fact they thought it was the right time and a good idea.  Needless to say, my aunt was so excited I couldn’t see them again until the engagement had happened for fear that she would say something.  Excitement was a definite mood amongst everyone.

So we’ll fast forward to March now and our trip to New Orleans.  It could not have come at a better time as we had some major issues in our apartment that we had to deal with prior to leaving and we were both in much need of a break.

New Orleans is an amazing city.  The major tourist places have bounced back completely from the hurricane, but with our trip from the airport, you can still see some of the devastation that occurred from Katrina.  The people were great; I can’t say a bad word about them at all.

We arrived the day before St. Patrick’s Day.  And in New Orleans, every day is a reason to celebrate.  On St. Patrick’s Day we wandered around the French Quarter, (something we did on a daily basis), and while on our way back to the hotel for an afternoon break, The Hot Scot and Aramat found a jewellery store.  They had these really interesting rings that were spinners.  It wasn’t the inside of the ring that spun though, it was the outside.  There was a ring of diamonds that sat on a post and spun with the movement of your body.  Aramat started to tease me inside the store about how awesome an engagement ring it would be.  I smiled, turned a shade of red, (my typical response when rings are mentioned), and didn’t say a word.  Thankfully Aramat moved to the other side of the store and I followed, leaving Hot Scot to look at the shiny spinny ring.  While Aramat looked at something else, I carefully leaned over and whispered into her ear, “The fucking ring is back at the hotel,” She froze.  Aramat didn’t move but the knowledge was there.  There was no turning back now, it was going to be done in New Orleans, and it was going to be done sooner than later.

Later lasted a day.  By Friday morning Aramat was on my case saying I had to do it today or she couldn’t hold her tongue anymore.  So it was planned, and here is how it went:

We booked a dinner cruise on a steamboat.  The Steamboat Natchez ( http://www.steamboatnatchez.com/ ) was our venue.  It's the last working steamboat around and cruised up and down the Mississippi river with live jazz from the upper deck.  After we had our dinner we all went up to see the band.  Hot Scot and I started to dance while Aramat and her hubby watched from the side knowing what was coming.  As we danced we talked until finally I asked Hot Scot if she felt like making another memory while we were in New Orleans.  With a confused look both at my question and my growing emotion, I slipped the ring box out of my pocket, opened it with one hand, (it's good to be dexterous), and presented it to her asking if she wanted to get married.  With a very quick "Oh my God", hug and kiss, and a few tears, I had my answer of yes.  We went to the bar and ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate.  Sparing no expense we got a lovely $18 bottle, (the better stuff was downstairs and we didn't feel like waiting).  Aramat's husband showed his soft romantic side by going to the band and letting them know about the engagement.  After a couple of notes being passed around they announced our engagement publicly.  The captain of the ship was the recipient of one of those notes and while the audience applauded us, the captain began blowing the steam whistle of the ship announcing news to whomever was within ear shot of the whistle.  All in all a very romantic evening and one that will not soon be forgotten.

We enjoyed the rest of our vacation and Hot Scot was in a bit of a dream state looking at the ring in all the different lights that we were in through the city.

As we got home and announced things to everyone here, the celebrations are just about to begin.  Which brings me to why I've actually created this blog.  I want to document 'step by step' our engagement process from the time of proposal right up to the big day.

I'm certainly looking forward to seeing the events unfold, and I hope you, the reader, will also enjoy this journey.

Let the steps begin.....tonight I believe we're going to try and pick a date.

on the cruise after proposing.

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blah

I'm still sitting here with a bit of shock going through me, so if this, my second blog is a little scattered forgive me.

Once again the silent killer is slowing striking someone close.  Yes, I'm talking about cancer.

I've just returned from the vet after taking Bob to find out why he has been a little 'stumbly'.  For a few days now he's been off balance and just not quite himself.  I thought it was a pulled muscle, or at worse, he had had a mini stroke.  What I learned instead was that he has a large tumor behind his stomach.  While his appetite is good, and the white blood cells are doing their best to fight this intruder, his overall prognosis is not good.

In 2010 cancer claimed several members of Hot Scot's family.  I too have felt the loss created by cancer with members of my family as well.  Two years ago, (almost to the day), I learned that Bob's sister TJ also had a large tumor that went very quickly with her.  Bob seems stronger and the vet is certainly hoping for a lengthy battle but only time will tell.

Now some of you might be saying, "it's just a cat" and in some cases you'd be right.  For me, it's the last living memory, (in literal sense), of my mother.  Mom passed 4 years ago in May and there isn't a day goes by where she isn't in my thoughts.

I'll close this for now as Bob has jumped up beside me and is looking for some loving.  I think after his traumatic couple of hours at the vets that he deserves that.

Sorry for the downer, but I can promise that things will get happier as time progresses.  I think Bob will be much happier when spring hits and we can get back up north again.  I know I'm looking forward to it.

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And so we begin

Hello there, welcome to my newest venture into the world of blogging.

My name is Mike, I was born and raised in Toronto.

I've decided to create this blog for a number of reasons which will be revealed over time.  Right now however, it's a means to communicate and share some thoughts.

Before going into things though, I'll give the reader some information about myself.....if you're really interested.

I live with 2 people.  There's my awesome girlfriend the Hot Scot, and one of my longest friends, my brother from another mother.  Aside from the 3 of us in a two bedroom apartment, there's my cat Bob, (yes that's his real name).  Bob is 17, diabetic, and just recently showing signs of failing health.  We hope it's temporary, but only time will tell.  Thankfully we all get along well and the apartment is well designed so we're not tripping over one another.  As time continues, there will be more people introduced, and of course, more aliases for me to create.  Naturally, this will in turn allow more adventures too.

My newest thought/venture beyond the blogging is that I finally got a blackberry.  Within the first few hours my bother from another mother had me ready to throw it against a wall.  "Click this, go to that, and you're all good" were a few comments I heard from him while I sat and stared at an ever moving screen trying to focus.  I actually deleted the same contact 3 times before finally getting things sorted out.  I picked up the blackberry yesterday, and now this evening, I'm enjoying it, while still trying to figure a few things out.  Thankfully the walls are safe from flying objects......for now.

With this technological venture, the Hot Scot has recently upgraded herself to an IPhone 4.  Proof that opposites do attract, she's a MAC girl, while I'm PC all the way.  Seemingly our phones continue this demonstration.  I love her dearly though, and that won't change.

Eventually I'll learn more about my phone, and I'm sure I'll even learn the IPhone too, but for now, it's a day by day event.  So far I have my "That's Hockey" app, and a flashlight app that I've downloaded.  I also had a bbm conversation last night so I can't be too lost.  I haven't tried to post a picture to Facebook yet though so we'll see what happens when I cross that path.

The Hot Scot and myself.

Well, there's my first blog, there will be more to come I'm sure.

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