Baby Shower in Ridgeway

19.01.2008

I slept in, took a shower and had some coffee with my grandma and a little chat. Before I knew it, it was lunchtime, so we had some chili and red wine while waiting for Dante Irma to show up, before we went to my Aunt Diane's house for Michelle's baby shower.

The last time I really talked to Dante Irma was when I was about 17, changing in the women's locker room at the YMCA in Welland. She saw me, and immediately ran up to me in her underwear and gave me a gigantic hug. Apparently she is an avid swimmer, and this was the first time our schedules were the same and we ran into each other there. She is a very rambunctious and exuberant lady. A very nice person to have around.

After talking for a while over our wine, Dante Irma told us some of her war stories which are always fascinating, until it was time to go.

I haven't seen either of my cousins in about six years, so it was good to see them again. Michelle is the oldest out of all of us, and she's a principal at a school in Cambridge, Ontario. She's really happy to be having a baby, and I'm happy for her, because she's always been the motherly one. When we were kids, she was always taking charge of every situation, and looking after her younger sister, Danielle and I when we were young. She got a lot of really nice stuff, including a complicated-looking stroller from Danielle and a nice poem and drawing from Aunt Diane.

It was a pretty laid-back affair. There were no crazy ladies drunk on punch, and also no wacky games which usually involve these same ladies screeching and laughing uncontrollably at each other. I won a bunch of cherry blossom flavoured bath products for having the word "winner" written on the bottom of my plate. That's me, a winner, every time. Louise the big winner, ha.

So it was getting to be a little late, and we still had to visit my longtime friend Trinette. She came to see me in Ottawa in the summer, so I wanted to catch up over some tea. She lives near my cousin, so we went there for a bit, met her new dog, Dora, who is a hyperactive border collie, similar to my mom's border collie, Destiny.

All the boys hung out at my house while the shower was going on, but by the time me and my mom got back home, they had already left. So, I guess it will be another month or so before I see my uncle, and cousin-in-law. That is, if we plan on having boys at my mom's birthday party in March. Hmmm... Something for mom to ponder.

We still managed to leave while it was still light out, and now we're driving through the U.S. pondering a rest stop. My mom gave us some yummy spice cake with mascarpone icing, that we are totally going to delve into in a couple minutes.

Michelle, Danielle, me