Like every other time when I have a huge amount of steroids I do not sleep well. The pattern last week and this week were the same and I am not sure if it will continue next week or not. I was up at 2:30, and stayed up till 4am doing some work and then tried to sleep till 6am, but it is not super restful. I got up and then proceeded to make our breakfast for our trip to North Bay. We left by 7:15 and did not manage to forget anything. We did not take the wheelchair this visit so we had a lot more room in the vehicle as well as less luggage. I drove the whole way because Mel was tired only getting 6 hours of sleep. For some reason when I only get a couple of hours after the steroids I seem to be ok. This morning Xavier realized that his skates needed sharpening so we took a detour to Source for Sports to get them sharpened there. When he took to the ice he said that he could barely tell that his skates were sharpened so we went back after the game and they fixed it. In Sudbury at Skater’s Edge they use a machine that consistently gets it crazy sharp. Here they do it by hand so it is more variable. They fixed it and he said it was much better for the second game, so we will go back tomorrow and get his other blades done. During the regular hockey season I just go do it automatically every week or two, but now that we need to pay I do not do it as often and only as required, but I did not keep track of how often it occurs. The games here have not been that exciting to watch. The other teams are quite outmatched compared to our team and I am surprised at the level of competition between our team and the other teams. Our kids are not trying but it is quite evident the skill difference and we are missing a lot of our top players. We could have easily won both games 20-0, but the kids held back and Xavier is not even trying. We decided to stay tonight instead of driving back home and back in the morning.
After our first game we went to Arugula for some wood oven pizza. I got some escargot to share with Xavier and he also got himself a pepperoni pizza. Mel and I also shared a pizza, and by share I had one slice, while she also had a salad. Xavier ate his whole pizza but would not eat ours because he did not like our toppings. We then ventured to the hotel which was not ready so we went to a market that was similar to Smith’s but different. They carried Smith’s products as they share an owner. We got some pudding, yogurt and some fruit and Mel then decided to spend $80 on coffee beans that we can not always find. It amuses me how much we spend at grocery stores when we go out of town. For dinner Mel said that she did not want to eat food with strong flavours, like Caribbean food, so Xavier immediately pipes up and says that he wants jerk chicken. I got a beef pattie because I can not eat that much and ate some of the chicken from Mel. Xavier ate all of his extremely fast and ate some of Mel’s as well. Mel is also now drinking alone in our hotel room as there are no other parents here. I think that she is going to end up pretty drunk at the rate that she is going, probably to drown out being stuck in the room with Xavier and myself without the support of her dear buddy Olivier.
Growing up I do not remember us ever staying in a hotel with my parents. Even to this day I do not know if my parents have ever stayed in a hotel room. If we take them to Toronto now, we will drop them off at my sister’s and we stay in a hotel. Back when the kids were younger we could cram everyone into my parents room, but it seems a bit more excessive to do now so we always book a place. The kids have stayed in a lot of hotel rooms and Olivier enjoys the experience somewhat. He does not like the hockey, nor sharing the bed with Xavier, but he does enjoy exploring with Mel. There is not much exploring in North Bay so he did not come along. It is interesting with Asian cultures, where when we visit other cities we always try and cram everyone into the house. It is seen as disrespectful if you do not stay with your relatives, even if it is super cramped. I think that my parents have accepted that you can not stay 5 adults and 2 older kids in a 1 bedroom apartment. My sister use to be able to rent a room in the building which was basically like a hotel room on the first floor and we have done that when my brother came to visit. It is cheaper than a hotel and convenient.
Today I received a gift from a friend. He had read that I wanted a walking stick and he was out of town in Barrie this week and he picked one up for me. It has inscription of Jesus and a saying on it and I think that he had to endure a lecture about the stick in order to receive it. I appreciate that he was willing to sit there and listen to a long winded story in order for me to get a walking stick. I had used some of our hiking poles when we go out walking, but I think that I am going to use this walking stick whenever I get the opportunity because it is something awesome to do. I can use it to wave at people and knock people out of the way for me. I appreciate when my friends pick up on things that I write about and then out of their own volition go out and help me out with things. I have had food delivered, surprise visits, offers of purchasing me my own McLaren. I have a wonderful set of friends that have always been super supportive. I think that tonight I am going to bed early because right now I am exhausted.
Q