Is it just me…

…or have I not been posting ANYTHING lately?

Here’s why:

• July … (as far back as I can remember): B-R-C is taking an advanced qualification course, and I am getting the property ready for the big Family Reunion on the August long weekend.
• July 29: take B-R-C to the airport so she can go visit her mother for a week. Went to Hamilton for drinks with A Certain Someone and wussed out of staying later because I was expecting B-R-C to phone to say she landed okay. Kicked myself for doing so since B-R-C didn’t call until much later anyway!
• July 30: Brothers come over to help lay the new patio, trying to make sure it is finished in time for the reunion. It rains. We don’t get as much done as I had hoped.
• July 31 to August 3: I continue with the patio and yard clean up. Everything I’m doing is geared towards the reunion!
• August 2: The porta-potty arrives! My family is SO-O-O full of crap, doncha know!
• August 3 and 4: My parents come into town early to help with reunion preparations. My mother and I go nutso driving all over town to do the grocery shopping.
• August 5: Brothers and cousins come over to help lay the new patio and continue with the yard clean up. I go to the airport to pick up B-R-C and her 12-year-old niece, who will be staying with us for a week or so.
• August 6: The Big Day!! The reunion goes fantastically well. Everybody is happy. I am exhausted. But it was really, really, really worth it.
• August 7: Civic Holiday. I take B-R-C, her niece, and my 8-year-old niece to the Metro Zoo. It’s fun, except B-R-C’s oh-so-fashionable niece wore the wrong shoes, and twists her ankles. I’m sorry, but you just do not wear heels for a day-long trek around the zoo. We get back to my brother’s house in time to meet the cousins wrapping up their Musical Family Jam.
• August 8 to 14: Dealing with B-R-C’s niece, who wants to do little else but go shopping, shopping, and more shopping. She wants to be a Fashion Designer when she grows up. We TRY to engage her in other activities and introduce a little culture and class to the girl, but our efforts fall on deaf ears.
• August 9: Planning meeting for our CT2 Training Canoe Trip. B-R-C’s niece spends the evening watching TV at a friend’s place.
• August 15: One final treat for B-R-C’s niece before taking her to the airport: a tour of the Roots head office (an acquaintance is a designer there). On the way to the airport, we stop at Yorkdale, where B-R-C splurges and buys her niece a pair of L.A.M.B. shoes. What? I don’t know… supposed to be the hottest thing. The good part of the day: we get rid of B-R-C’s niece! This is followed by scrambling around to find gear for the canoe trip.
• August 16: Planning meeting for the Killarney Canoe Trip we will be leading at the end of August. This is followed by more scrambling to gather gear for the trip.
• August 17: Packing meeting for the CT2 Training Canoe Trip. We’re all packed. Sort of. Due to an Executive Oversight, most of my personal clothing has been left at home! So when we get home from the packing meeting, I have to repack!
• August 18: We take Karma to visit her “Auntie Liz”, who was supposed to go with us on the CT2 Training Canoe Trip, but had to cancel because she started a new job.
• August 19 to 26: CT2 Training Canoe Trip on the north branch of the Magnetawan River. We learn a lot. On the second last day, I somehow become a Portage Demon, and solo-carry a canoe one kilometre in 15 minutes!
• August 26: We get home, only to find that Karma is not at home! We thought Liz was going to bring her home that day. So after canoeing four hours to get out of the bush, and driving five hours to come home from the north country, I have to get back in the car to drive across the GTA to collect my doggie. Liz tells us that she can’t go on the Killarney Canoe Trip as planned.
• August 27: We spend the day at home, playing with Karma, doing laundry, and trying to decide what to do about the Killarney Trip. We could try to reschedule it for later in the week… but would we get the campsite reservations?
• August 28: I decide we’re going to cancel the Killarney Trip outright. It is just too much work to scramble around to make alternate arrangements. Furthermore, Liz didn’t do any of the preparations that she was supposed to have done while B-R-C and I were up north. So Karma doesn’t have a place to stay, and none of the shopping has been done!
• August 30 to September 1: We go out of town to visit my parents and try to relax.
• September 1 to 5: It’s the last weekend before B-R-C has to go back to school. This year, she’s teaching Grade 6, including Math, which she has never done before. The challenge is adding stress to her already stressed out life.
• September 6 to 8: Back to work for me, picking up the pieces after being out of the office for two weeks. Fortunately, it has been quiet, so there aren’t too many pieces to deal with! We also decide to plan a canoe trip on the south Magnetawan River as a replacement for the cancelled Killarney trip.

And life goes on.