My Week of Awesomeness in Waterloo

Last night I got back from my week down in Waterloo. It was an awesome week. It was great to see my old friends and reconnect with everyone again. I will give you a day-by-day outline of my week. If I forget something, leave me a comment and I'll just add it in.

Tuesday

4:30, I left the house and my mom drove me into Winnipeg. We arrived at the Winnipeg Airport at around 5:30, and my flight left at 6:45. (All this is in Winnipeg time.) I arrived in Toronto at 10 o'clock (now Toronto time.) Blake and Dave gave me a ride from the airport back to Kevin's place, where I ditched my junk. Kevin and I went to visit Sensei Bruce at his work. From there I went to visit Iara. We chilled for most of the afternoon. In the evening, I called Dave and Blake and we went to William's for a coffee. I got back and was asleep by 2am.

Wednesday

I woke up on Wednesday at around 9:45/10 o'clock. Kevin and I got cleaned up and ate, then Laura came at around 10:30. We went to Chapters for a bit, then grabbed lunch. Kevin and Laura went to Tim Horton's, while I opted to grab some Burger King. Afterwards, we all went to Canadian Tire so I could show them my mad Canadian Tire Auto Parts skills. We went to the mall, from which Kevin went to work. Laura and I walked back to Kevin's and got our Jujitsu stuff, then I dragged Laura through Sunnydale to visit my neighbors with me. I saw Subhi and Payroz, and had a wonderful visit with them. Laura and I grabbed some Twin City Pizza, then headed off to jujitsu. Class went fairly well, I took the kids through a Muay Thai style workout. Afterwards we went back to Kevin's, who was home from work, and the three of us watched "Snatch."

Thursday

Got up a bit after nine, phoned Iara, then went and hung out there. We pretty much chilled around the house for most of the day. I think we went to the mall in the afternoon because I wanted to show Iara a hat that I liked at American Eagle. Iara had to go to work, so I phoned Steve and he talked to Chris, and we hung out for a bit. The three of us ended up grabbing a coffee with Kyle at Starbucks while he was on break. Afterwards, I went back to Iara's place, where I ended up spending the night. I called Dave, and we agreed to grab breakfast the next morning.

Friday

I woke up at around 8am and got my stuff ready to go. At 9, Blake and Dave picked me up and we went to Seatle's Best Coffee for old time's sake, where we all grabbed waffles. After breakfast I went back to Iara's, and we went to the mall again. I was intending to buy the hat, but ended up forgetting. The day, however, was in no way a loss, as Iara bought me a T-shirt she found on a clearance rack that had "Good for Something" emblazoned across the chest. I love the shirt. I am now, apparently, good for something. woot. We hung out for awhile more, then I called Dave and we decided to hang out. We ended up grabbing Kevin and going to Pool Paradise for a few games of pool. Kevin and I went home and got slept up for jujitsu class the next morning.

Saturday

Kevin and I got up early for jujitsu class, which went well. I worked on bo-staff with Hilary. Kevin and I got a ride home from Sensei, where we ate lunch and put in some flagstone in the front yard for Kevin's dad. Kevin and I spent the rest of the afternoon watching "Ultimate Fighter" on Spike TV. Good times. In the evening, Kevin gave me a ride down to Iara's, where we ate dinner, then rented a couple of movies. We watched Ong Bak, Chasing Liberty, and Love Actually. We went to bed and got a few hours of sleep before we went to church.

Sunday

We all got a ride to church with John G., the service was very nice. Jeremy told the whole church that I was there. The sermon was good, Jason Mills was preaching. After church Cassandra, Dave, Iara and I picked up Kevin, and we all went for lunch at Angie's Kitchen. Dave gave us a ride back up to Iara's, then Iara, Cassandra, Kevin and I went on a Downtown Kitchener Adventure. The Blues, Brews, and Barbeques Festival was going on, so there were lots of vendors and the like in the street. We walked around there for awhile, and also went into the "Bargain Bargain Bargain" store. We stopped by the Children's Museum, and walked in and out of their little doors. Then we all bused back to Iara's. Cassandra and Iara went home, Kevin and I went out for dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Summer at a Chinese food place on the corner of Erb and Fischer Hallman. We had dinner for four, and enjoyed a wonderful conversation. Mr. Summer told us about his training as he progresses despite his illness. Mr. Summer is a wonderful martial artist who has profoundly influenced the lives of many students, in no small way including mine. Afterwards we went to William's, where we had hot chocolate and cake. Mr. and Mrs. Summer dropped Kevin and I off at Kevin's house. Later I went out with Blake and Dave. We rented a few movies, and had snacks and drinks.

Monday

Monday morning I got up and went over to Iara's, and we bused down to uptown, where I was intending to visit some friends of the family who live in that area. Unfortunately, they were not home, so we waited out the crazy rain, then bused back. Then I went for dinner at Subhi and Payroz's. We had rice, salad, and kabobs. Subhi drove me to jujitsu so that I could say goodbye to the kids. My friend Sara gave me a beautiful folding desk-piece, with a cross-stitched Scripture verse and a poem she wrote on a card. Then I went to Iara's, and we sat outside for awhile, watching the kids. I grabbed the bus back to Kevin's, and chilled with him. (he played WOW, I layed around.)

Tuesday

Tuesday morning Iara and I hung out around the house, but she had to go to work at 1:30. I walked with Iara to her work and picked up some groceries for her mom. Then I called Kevin and we went to William's, where we hung out for about an hour. After that he went to work, and I walked back towards the mall. I saw Kevin and Laura (church Kevin and Laura, not jujitsu Kevin and Laura) who gave me a ride back to Sunnydale, where I visited the community centre coordinator. We had a wonderful visit, we spent over an hour talking. Then I walked around Lakeshore for a bit before catching the 12 down to the Stollery's, where we had chicken dinner. Good times with them. They gave me a ride back to Iara's, where we watched MIB II.

Wednesday

The guys and I went out for a final breakfast at Benny's. After breakfast, we went for a walk down at the spot and reminisced about the old days. *sniff sniff* lol. After our walk, before they drove me back to Iara's, Dave gave me a letter, and they presented me with a gorgeous new watch, which I am wearing right now. I met up with Sensei Bruce and Kevin at Tim Horton's, where we discussed AIDS over some Timmies. w00t. I walked down to Iara's to say goodbye, then Val gave me a ride back to Kevin's to pack my stuff. It was great to see Val again before I left. At Kevin's, I threw all my stuff into my bags, then got a drive with Steve to the airport after stopping by at Payroz's to get some bread! I was barely able to stuff all the bread in my backpack at the airport. I was afraid that it was going to be confiscated to be eaten by security. (They actually took my aerosol AXE deodorant. Jerks) I was safely home by 10:3o Winnipeg time.


Well, that was my trip. I had an awesome time. Thanks to everyone who made it what it was. It was awesome to see everyone again, hopefully I will be able to see everyone again sometime soon.