Sarah O'Connor

Haha, I bet all seven of you who read my blog thought I’d forgotten to post today because of the long weekend but I didn’t! I did have to put it on hold of course because I had a Canada Day party to go to yesterday, and since I didn’t have any time to write yesterday or ideas it made sense to wait until Canada Day happened and write about that.

Well, it was fun of course! One of my friends hosted a Canada D’eh Party which has been talked about and been planned for at least a couple weeks. On the day of the party there was a bit of a surprise when my friend’s boyfriend had to go to the hospital and eventually get his appendix removed, but luckily the surgery was a success and he’s recovering fine (which just means we have to have another party soon to celebrate that, right?).

And more people arrived after that, some I knew others I didn’t, bringing lots of good food with them. We started out just chatting in the backyard and snacking. This weekend was insane with the heat and I soon began to feel a bit unwell from the heat. Luckily the house was air conditioned though, so I spent a lot of time in the house cooling down and staying hydrated. For dinner we had vegan burger’s from Boon Burger (an amazing restaurant that you need to check out), and if you know me you know I’m a meatatarian so eating and enjoying something vegan is a big deal for me (the things that happen when you have a token vegan friend who pushes you to try, and actually enjoy, new healthy food).

And after dinner a lot of the party people went swimming, which I’d been dying to do since I got there but couldn’t find a way in (figuratively and literally). Again, if you know me you know I’m basically a fish. I love the water, I love swimming and will swim if there’s a pool or (clean) lake near me. And there were drinks, and there were games, and there was a pool which resulted in pool games AND drinks (nothing was spilled surprisingly, or at least very little). The pool cooled me down a lot and I felt so much better after swimming. So then there were more drinks, and shots, and sparklers on the front lawn and an impromptu trip to the park to watch the fireworks at Bayfront.

So we watched the fireworks, swung on the swings which I haven’t done in so long, and sprawled on the play equipment talking for a short while. I was about to snap the fireworks when I realized with a panic that I didn’t have my phone. I’d brought it with me; I was wearing a red and white dress with pockets to the party. Pockets and dresses are always a good match, but it seems even if we give dresses pockets they’re only adequate. I slowly panicked at the thought of losing my phone in the park, having found my Presto and Plum card in the wood chips easily enough. I borrowed my sister’s boyfriends phone to use the flashlight and found my phone easily enough right by the swings, which makes sense since I was swinging a lot.

We went back to the house then and cleaned up a bit. My friend and I went for a night swim to keep our minds awake and I’ll never turn down swimming. Then we went back inside and by this point I was finding everything funny and my friend thought it would be a good idea for some midnight grilled cheeses so we did that and after six hours in a bathing suit I finally changed into my pyjamas. Whether it was the sun or the alcohol or the grilled cheese something made us dozy and we all agreed on bed shortly after. And it was a good sleep, except for the fact that I slept on my arm weird and it hurt, and my sister’s boyfriend (one of the few sober people) fell down the stairs at four in the morning and woke everyone up.

And then morning came and my friend left to visit her boyfriend in the hospital while I was in charge of locking up (and keeping her house safe). Some other people left for home at that time and I decided to go for a morning swim, which got some laughs but I’ll take advantage of any pool around me (also it helped my arm). Then there were only the three of us (my sister, her boyfriend, and myself) and we slowly meandered out and I locked up the house.

I’ve never been much of a partier. Part of that is because I never knew how to get invited to one in high school or if they even existed (they did) and in university I never understood party/kegger culture (what do you mean it starts at ten at night?!) and the idea of knowing one person and no one else is a bit intimidating. I’m happy where I can do these things now though; get to experience them in a safe environment with people I trust, where it’s fun but not Project X fun. And it’s just nice to be with people and in a place where I feel relaxed, comfortable, and happy. Where I know I can shut off my thoughts for a day and just enjoy the people and everything that’s happening around me.

So Happy (belated) Canada Day to all seven of you who read my blog! I hope it was fun, I hope it was memorable, and I hope you were happy and with people you care about!