Cathy: "What!? It's your birthday on Friday, Erin!? Let's take you to the pub and get you drunk!"

I'm still trying to write down the whole trip. It might take a while to get the pictures organized.

I went to see the fireworks last night. I have decided that Sweden was not as good as they were last year. Their timing was off at the beginning, and I'm not sure if I was really crazy about their choice of music. What was even worse, was that the entire beach was singing along to Abba. Ewwww.

I might have appreciated the fireworks more if I hadn't been busy taking pictures of them. I promised a few people I would, plus the novelty of having a camera hasn't quite worn off yet.I took a total of ninety-seven pictures, just over half of them can be seen here. Those are my best ones.

We got there about six hours early, and Erin and I immediately separated from our parents to go find Erin's friends. They had a fairly good spot, in the middle, but back near the logs. At first it was just us, Cathy, Jessica, Curtis, and Deena, but later there were five more, another Jessica, Steph, Laurent, Riki, and Wesley, who decided at the moment he met me, that he wanted to be called Bon Jovi instead. I have decided that I love Erin's friends. Especially Cathy. Haha, good times. I won't go into details because I don't remember any. I sharing a blanket with Cathy and Curtis and being in our imaginary "band," using our bottles of Coke as microphones. Yes, we weren't exactly acting our ages. To my left, Erin was talking to Steph and singing rock songs with Wes. Somewhere in front of me, one of the Jessicas, Riki, Laurent, and Deena were playing card games. I was sharing the blanket with Cathy and Curtis, and later the other Jessica as well, who was sitting on Curtis's lap. Everyone was having fun, talking about work, fireworks, the Jessica who was playing card's wedding date...and also we were fingering and getting pissed off at people who were stepping on our towels without apologizing.

We gave Cathy a ride home. Both of us were high on sugar. Poor Erin was sandwiched between us.

Next week I am planning on going back to take more pictures. Erin has to work, so she probably won't be there, but that won't stop me from getting together with Cathy and maybe some other people. It's not like I have anyone else to go with, though Jeff said he might be there, and so did Adam. We'll see.

Anyways, I hope you all like the pictures, anyone who decides to read this. I have to go build up my strength because I have to babysit my delightful cousins, Garrett and Kendall, for six hours before I go to Faaria's house. My aunt and uncle are moving a few blocks away to a slightly bigger house, and they need all the help they can get. If I am somewhat dead by the time I get to Faaria's, you will know why.

A quick little note.

I will post something rather lengthy in my blog about my trip as soon as I get my photos uploaded to my Photobucket account and as soon as I have time. We are leaving soon to go see the fireworks. I'll see if I can take some pictures of them.

In the mean time, you can read this book:


Who Made God? And Other Things We Wonder About

The quality of the picture isn't that good because I took it through glass and it was getting dark. There is no way in Hell I would buy this book, but it's not something I see every day.

My parent's love for used bookstores is the only thing that's going to get me through this.

I'm leaving in a few hours. I will be gone for five days. Ewwwwww.

Blah, life isn't fair. Ciao darlings, and I'll tell you all about my adventures when I get back.

OWOWOWOWOWWW

When will the drugs kick in?

"That poor piece of rubber! You just shot down it's dreams of becoming a REAL slug!"

I like Ikea. There are so many weird things there that you can't see anywhere else. I think Ingmarr was on to something. Dad and I took advantage of the one dollar breakfast special this morning, after a short walk through Colony Farm. After our breakfast, which included scrambled eggs, potatoes, a croissant, and either bacon or sausages, (dad gave me his croissant for my bacon) we took a tour through the store, and of course, bought a few things. It is very rare that you go into Ikea, and leave without buying anything. We were there for a few hours, then, because our poor feet couldn't take it anymore, we left and headed to Vancouver, where we window shopped on West Broadway for a while, then picked up mom from work. Then we picked Erin up from work, drove as fast as we could to Whonnock Lake, so Erin could pick up the keys to the place she's working at tomorrow, and came home, where Erin registered for courses for her next year of university, and I fell asleep for a while. After that, not much happened, except that I'm really awake now. Tomorrow we are going to watch Amèlie.

...That is all I can think of to talk about. I just realized that I have never seen Breakfast at Tiffiny's...

"Dad, the scary man in the trailer was staring at us."

My day was okay; I went for a run along one of the most boring dikes known to humankind. The only good thing about it, was that dad and I discovered an old abandoned shingle mill, and soon we are going to go back there so I can take pictures. The only other thing we discovered, was a partially decomposed, small animal carcass on the dike, which dad later said was once a bird.

Other than that, I had a fairly unexciting day. I got some mildly upsetting news via email, and dad and I also checked out the museum in Pitt Meadows, which wasn't very interesting. I have basically been reading Kerouac all day.

Next week, my parents are dragging me to Vancouver Island with them for a few days. We are going to Port Hardy for smoked fish and candied salmon. Erin isn't going because she has to work. It's her birthday the Friday after next. She will be nineteen and officially an adult. My parents are excited because they haven't been to a bar in years. I told them to go ahead and leave me alone at home, so I can brag on my blog or something, about how they are getting shitfaced somewhere. I have no life.

I'm sailing the last two weeks of August, hopefully passing my Bronze V. I can't wait. This year I get to learn how to use the spinnaker sail, and sail in a Laser again. The Laser is my favourite boat, slightly bigger than a Byte, but not a two-person boat like the Laser II or the 4-20. The 4-20 is the minivan of sailing. In a Laser I can actually go fast. Plus, I get to see Jeremy again. He is so fucking hilarious. I only wish he had his Blue instructor's license, so he could teach something higher than Whitesail. Apparently Erin and him used to be in a math class together, and argue over whether sailing or rowing was better. Also, his mom makes sushi and sends it with him for lunch, and if you suck up to him, sometimes he gives you a piece.

Speaking of food, dad just said something about dessert, and today we bought four one-person, mini cheesecakes. Goodbye.

The heron sat in the tree until dad started to sing, then it flew away. I don't blame it...

We now have a bathroom sink! No more washing our hands in the bathtub! No more brushing our teeth in the laundry room sink! We are one step closer to living somewhat civilized lives once again.

I am now finally reading On The Road, by Jack Kerouac. Yay!

Also, I have been going out and running again. The dikes in Pitt Meadows are very nice at seven in the morning. Dad has been going out there and walking a new one every week day for the past two and a half weeks, so on Monday I joined him. Basically I run for a few kilometres, then turn around and run back to where he is walking, then we walk together for a while. I like going early because there aren't as many people and it isn't as hot. Plus, dad sometimes holds my camera for me, so I can take pictures if I want. The only problem with dikes is that they're flat. And there are no substantial hills in the general vicinity of my house at all. Oh well, the dikes are pretty. Yesterday we walked along one that gave us a view of the Alouette River meeting the Pitt. Tomorrow we are most likely going to walk along the Pitt towards where it meets the Fraser. And after that...I don't know...

I haven't written a long post in ages.

I'm not going to start now. You actually thought I had something interesting to say?

Today has been a good/bad day.

I'm torn between travelling to Port Moody every day to visit friends, just for human contact, plus an end to my lonelyness, or telling everyone to fuck off and leave me alone.

What should I do?

...What would you say if your best friend didn't have anything to do with you anymore...

I was thinking about her today. It's been five years almost to the day that I last saw her, and four and a half since I last talked to her. Not that I haven't tried to since then. I was also thinking about Jayme Ono today. The second anniversary of her death is in two days.

I seem to have made myself depressed now. Music makes me want to cry.

...that's entertainment...

Today has been a fairly odd day. From waking up this morning, only to discover that my bathing suit was wet and my towel mysteriously missing, to reading about cats being shot with pellet guns on Main Street in Vancouver, from getting free slurpees at the 7-11, to the bus I was on breaking down, from the skies raining sporadically all day, to my dad running over a small tree, from getting a ride to swimming instead of taking the train, and going to Starbucks instead of 7-11, to stealing gravel from a gravel pit with my dad, from finding out that a friend of mine really likes another friend of mine, to being yelled at by a crazy homeless woman, who claimed to have served in the army, and was screaming at us for coming within a twenty metre radius of the war memorial behind city hall, which you are allowed to go as close as you want to, if you want...

Need I say anything more? I just Ctrl pasted, and I got this: Rotting Driftwood. Don't ask, because I have know idea how it got there.

La la la!

Three days until Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

I LOVE Tim Burton films. I also can't wait until Corpse Bride, but that's not until September, so, for now...

THREE DAYS!

*Gasp*

Erin is using my new razor without my permission! Bitch.

"That's okay, I'm good in the music department. I mean, I've only got eighty-seven hours worth of songs on my computer."

Oh oh oh, Erin, guess what I heard in Starbucks yesterday?

What?

...I don't remember...

That was smooth, Abby.

Shut up.

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This reminds me of a similar conversation I had with my mother once in Ikea:


You know what it smells like in here?

What does it smell like?

I don't know.

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Ahhh, eating lunch with the family. You gotta love it. Other highlights include my mom threatening to throw grapes at me dad for being "cheeky," and me laughing for five solid minutes for a reason that I don't remember anymore.

My mom also told us about the first time my parents met, where my dad drove my mom and a friend of both of theirs back to school after lunch one day, just because he was early for a dentist appointment. My dad claimed that story wasn't true, and instead he had met her in some sleazy bar, which led me to say, "Sleazy bar, my ass!" which, if you think about it, sounds very wrong. Which may have been why I was laughing so hard. I also have Birmingham Ho, by Morten Abel stuck in my head, which probably accounts for something as well...

I can't see. I should probably put on some kind of corrective lenses.

Not much to talk about. I'm high on iced tea from Starbucks.

My knee hurts because someone kicked it duing swimming.

I'm not vegetarian, I'm a lacto-ovo-pescetarian!

I'm going to sleep in tomorrow.

Ahh, the smell of chlorine frying my brain into porridge.

Yay! Going to Megan's house tonight! Haha, I'm going to take lots and lots and lots of pictures!!!! La la la la la la la la la la laaaaaaaaaaa!

*Cough*

I'm leaving now...

I like cheesecake. STRAWBERRY cheesecake.

Swimming swimming swimming, how I hate it. I hate it when people tell me what to do while swimming. "Do a feet first surface dive. Now do a head first surface dive. Now do twenty lengths of the pool. You have fifteen minutes or you won't pass the course." Today was better than the last two, however, due to Rodney making fun of Hillary's stripping down while I was pretending to give her CPR.

Yes, anyways...

I'm really bored right now. I don't feel like typing. I don't really have anything to say either.

I will leave you with this picture of my cat:



Goodnight.

I took a picture of my sister's boobs. She was wearing my Grease shirt. I thought it was funny at the time.

I would talk about the party, but my new camera is too amusing.

More tomorrow.

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux...

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!

Haha, Canada pride! You have to love this beautiful country, with its same-sex marriage and its non-existant military. Speaking of same-sex marriage, GO SPAIN!!!

Anyways, sorry about that. I'm suffering from lack of non-family human contact again. In fact, my Canada Day has been fairly quiet. This is the first year I haven't spent my Canada Day weekend living in the park and celebrating Golden Spike Days with the rest of the Port Moodyites. I miss waking up to the cannon in the morning, having thousands of people wander around my backyard, listening to the live bands on the main stage, dancing on the main stage, having friends randomly come to my door and ask if I want to go wander around and buy cotton candy with them, while in the background of all this excitement, you can faintly hear, and smell, the petting zoo that is strategically placed outside my bedroom window. We got Lou from that petting zoo seven years ago today as a kitten. Ahhhh, I miss all of it. I wish I could go there, but since we don't live there anymore, we will actually have to look for a parking spot. Haha, it was always fun arguing with the city workers. I will miss the main stage. It was fun listening to Port Moody Idol, and watching little children dance, especially little people from Footloose. What wasn't fun was when Kayla Stewart watched me last year, and all throughout the two dances I performed, she wouldn't stop screaming, "Abby, I love you! You're my hero!" Last year was also interesting because Trooper performed one night. Here for a good time, not a long time... Now I am having a Trooperish sort of moment.

Anyways, Tell me how it went today. I know some of you were there. I feel left out.

Going to a party tomorrow. I have to mention that, or someone will get mad at me. I am also FINALLY buying a camera tomorrow. There were some timing issues, or I would already have one.

I must go now. I can't let dad knock down that rock wall without me. Watch out! I am deadly with an eight pound sledgehammer. Muahahahaha!