1 Year Wedding Anniversary

This past weekend marked Louisa and my one year wedding anniversary. And it was a pretty darn good weekend if I do say so myself. To kick things off we attended the wedding of friends of ours on Saturday. Same weekend (1 year later), same church, same time, even same priest. It was a bit surreal. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were the ones standing at the alter.

Next on our agenda was an overnight get away to Prince Edward County. When we went to drop Bee Bee off at the dog sitter there was no sign of her. After some quick thinking and thanks to the kindness of Barry and Annette we dropped Bee Bee off at Barry and Annette's house and we were on our way.

Since we didn't have any real time line we decided to stop off at Merrickville for Breakfast. Once we made it to Picton we spent some time walking through the shops on the main drag before checking in to our sleeping quarters.

Louisa had booked us a room at the Huff Estates Winery. We had a little trouble locating it though. We had printed off maps and directions but they were lost in the wind at a service station. We turned to the GPS and for once it failed us. It sent us on a wild goose chase and we became lost. Eventually we found our way and made it to the estate.

Before heading back to Ottawa we went for a nice romantic walk on the beach at Sandbanks Provincial Park. We also found a great bakery where we bought some fresh made bread and donuts and a pie.

It was a great trip. Very relaxing. It will also be the last trip that we will be able to go on before the baby comes. Next time we go somewhere we will have so much stuff to bring. This trip we only brought one carry on size suitcase between the two of us.

Update

I haven't written a blog entry in a while so I thought I would give an update on what is new.

Only a few days more before we get the new car. I am so excited. We are buying a red 2010 Toyota Matrix. So now we will have two vehicles which will be important once the baby comes and Louisa is on maternity leave. Plus when I have my meetings and activities for Scouts or Knights of Columbus I won't have to worry if Louisa needs the car.

Louisa and I have been talking about getting a filing cabinet for the basement. I have so many papers that it doesn't take long for the basement to look all messy. I am currently working with a 'pile' system. One pile for Scouting stuff, one for the Knights of Columbus, etc. A filing cabinet sure will be helpful.

My boss will be out of the office all week. He is going down to Las Vegas for a Trade Show. Originally I was supposed to go as well but that was before the company started to cut down on their travel budgets. Assistant Buyers are no longer eligible for International travel. Oh well.

I will be recertifing my first aid this week through work. Which is very convenient because my certification is due for renewal. The last time was paid for by my previous employer and now Costco will be paying.

Louisa is doing well with the pregnancy. She is either very happy and laughing or in discomfort due to her changing body. I want to celebrate Mothers Day but she doesn't seem to be big on the idea. She says she isn't a mother yet. Plus our wedding anniversary is the next weekend. We are planning on a overnighter a couple hours away to celebrate.

Rock Climbing, Hockey and Perth

These past few days have been busy. Thursday Night was our Venturers meeting and we went indoor rock climbing. This is something I had never done before but the rest of them had done it many times. It was fun. I did two accents in total in two different areas of the gym. Half way up I was thinking "I can't do this" but somehow I made it to the top both times. My toes were really hurting. You have to wear very tight shoes so you can get a good grip on the holds. Louisa wants to try so we are going to go give it a shot some time.

Friday night Louisa and I went to the Ottawa Senators hockey game. They were playing Anaheim. The sens lost, they didn't really try until the third period. Even so it was nice to go to a game. Sure was different than watching on tv at home. I like to get to one game a year so I guess that will be it until next year.

Yesterday it was raining all day so we stayed at home most of the day. We did go to mass in the afternoon and there was a parish potluck afterward. Not a huge turn out, probably due to the rain.

Today we went for a day trip down to Perth, Ontario. Luckily the weather was nice. I took Louisa to Camp Opemikon where we had Rovent last weekend and we walked around the town. We had lunch at a great restaurant called GoodWood.

Tomorrow is my first day as an Assistant Buyer at Costco. Very happy to finally be starting my new position. I will be working with a great bunch of guys.

Merrickville

Last weekend I went to Merrickville with the Venturers as described in my last post. I was so taken by the little town that I decided to take Louisa there this weekend. Merrickville is only a 45 minute drive away from Barrhaven. Just take the 416 south as if you are going to Toronto and take the Kempville exit. Merrickville is along the Rideau river and part of the Rideau Canal. So if you were going by boat it will take you right to downtown Ottawa.

We arrived around 10:30 in the morning and didn't leave until after 4 in the afternoon. What a wonderful day we had. We had breakfast and The Goose And Gridiron. The food was real good and it cost almost nothing. The entire bill was around $11.00 for the two of us. There are much fancier places there if you want.

We spent the whole day walking down the main street (and a couple of side streets) looking in the all the cute shops. They have at least three glass blowing shops, Mrs. McGarrigle’s Mustard, and an assortment of artists gallery's and unique boutiques. We did buy a few things here and there but it was just fun looking at all the neat things they had. Many of the buildings are very old and the shops seemed to have endless rooms full of treasures.

In addition to shopping we walked across the bridge to explore the ruins and visit the foundry. We even watched they Parks Canada staff operate the locks to let a boat pass through. And to finish it all off we went into a candy & Ice Cream store and the air was filled with the most amazing smell. They make their own waffle comes fresh. I had an Apple Pie Ice Cream in a waffle cone. It had to have been the best tasting ice cream I have ever had, I have had a lot of ice cream in my life.

It was such a nice time to take this day trip with the changing of the leaves. We truly had a marvelous day. I recommend it to anyone in Ottawa who want to get away for a day trip without spending a fortune. They have some nice Inns and B&B's if you want to make a weekend out of it. And of course for the less pampered approach they have a campground right there along the canal.