Author - noon30

Tom: Just wanted to let everyone know that I have arrived safely⁽¹⁾ and have already overcome my jet lag. My bags never made it on time for some reason. They ended up in Taipei and had to be shipped over late last night. Ah, clean underwear.

The hello wasn’t all you might have thought it was either. Shan had prolly been waiting for me forever and her first glance would have seen me being led by this uniformed Thai woman bearing no luggage. The first hug was brief but I immediately felt refreshed.

Last night I was pretty tired so we ordered McDonalds in for dinner. It was cool to see this little motor bike with a big McDonalds sign attached to it pull up. They even had a special bag for the drinks and see thru straws. I am seeing new things already. No chicken sauce though…I know it’s bad for me Ratty but I like that stuff. To compensate Ratty, they have this spicy chicken sauce stuff that you might put on white rice or mixed veggies. It was so good on the fries. Gould you will be happy to know that they use the same addictive Coke mixture here too.⁽²⁾

I was cold last night because Shan had the air conditioning cranked and is taking good care of me. Today I am going to try and buy a blanket. It is really nice outside today too and some might think the weather has followed me. Fingers are crossed that the cool air stays.

So much to say and so little time…

Shan: Well, we knew you were all waiting for this one so we thought we’d get it over with!

Tom is pretty accurate about the airport thing. Only, there were times when I was wishing that I was the one coming off the plane and times when I was wishing that I could run and hide. I was definately nervous. Finally I catch a glimpse of him and as soon as I saw that he was with only one backpak I knew that there was trouble. No words passed between us before I walked into his arms and then I got the ‘they lost my luggage’. What can I say?

So then they dragged him back into the terminal to fill out the necessary paperwork. I waited with a million things going through my head. You You never know how the Thai systems are going to work and so I was a little worried. However that did not consume my thoughts, I just couldn’t wait to get him back to me again.

Then came the second hello. Much better than the first. We walked out of the airport with one bag between the two of us and when the heat wave hit Tom stopped dead in his tracks and was ready to head back in. We got in a cab, the driver not too pleased with us, and made for home.

My christmas present arrived safe and sound. Yes! My dad flew Tom over here as a Christmas gift to me⁽³⁾…what can I possibly say about this? The one impression that has left me in awe was how much I feel like I have seen him everyday for the last 8 months. It’s like we haven’t skipped a beat and it couldn’t be better!

(1) – This was the year that JD sent me to Thailand for NY. I guess he had asked Shan what she wanted for Xmas and she said Tom. Little did we know that this trip would be the beginning of the rest of our lives.

(2) – This has come up before and there is speculation that Coke and McDonalds have some kind of agreement that their mixture must be shipped in stainless steel cannisters. Coke stopped doing this many years ago and apparently McDonalds played hardball to keep it the same. There are some posts online that debunk this so I am not 100% convinced of this but it would make sense considering Coke at any other drive-thru is not even close and all the McDonalds are pretty consistently better. Al and I were watching a show on TV that talked about this as well but I can’t remember what it was called. They enforced the steel container theory as well.

(3) – Well this is just clossic JD. I remember when he asked me if I would go. I think I had been on a plane once before for an hour before this 17 hour flight. I was concerned about getting there and how would I ever repay him. We talked about me mowing his lawn for the rest of my life. 45 degrees he would joke.

Merry Christmas everyone! Went for lunch with Jen⁽¹⁾ yesterday and I picked up my Grandma on the way. I have been trying to see as many people as I can before I leave. I don’t see Jen enough but we always have great talks. She ended up getting lunch for both Grandma and myself after another big fight over the bill. We have to start adding that into her lunch hour.

The family accommodated me by coming over for an early Christmas dinner last night. Thanks mom for a great dinner and everyone else for coming. Special appearances by Al and the dancer⁽²⁾. From there Al and I went to JD’s to drop off some fancy sandwiches⁽³⁾ and pick up a few things for Shan and myself. Always festive there on the holidays and it was nice to collect all kinds of hugs to pass on to Shan⁽⁴⁾. From there we hit up Nolan’s place for his annual Christmas Eve bash⁽⁵⁾. I have a rep of eating all the wings there but I am usually there before the Sullivans. Now I know why! Great to see everyone that I know I will be missing very soon and hang out with Gould, Al, and Nolan all at once. Always hard to say goodbye to Nolans. This morning I was at Erin’s for 8:45am and although I missed most of the opening she was still charged and that is what I love most about year. Spoiled again at the Taylor house⁽⁶⁾.

Just want to thank everyone for their support this past few months. I hope that I have been able to thank you all face to face at some point but I have been overwhelmed by so much lately that I fear that I haven’t expressed myself enough at times. I am truly blessed to be surrounded by so many great friends and family. Have a great New Years, I know I will.

(1) – Jen Jordan at the time, superhero name, superhero energy. When I first met Jen she was the daughter of my boss (Donna) at the NWC. I had met Jen a few times and Donna had asked me stay at their house while they were away just to have an adult there because they were gone for a week. I think Jen was 16-17 at the time. Anyway she made me drink some wine and I got sick and it was a whole thing but we have been good friends ever since.

(2) – I met “the Dancer” when I worked at Intrinsix. She was a graphic designer there and we became fast friends. We spent a lot of time together that year and she fit in really nicely with the friend group. She even came camping with us at Tulabi. Miss that girl.

(3) – JD and I both love the little fancy sandwiches. We would share them with each other when we could. We often joked about going to funerals just the have the sandwiches after.

(4) – Shan was in Thailand.

(5) – Christmas Eve at Nolan’s was an annual thing. All the guys from hockey would show up and we would sit around and drink and tell stories. Kind of like it is now in room #1 each week after the game.

(6) – This was a second family to me. I always felt very welcome at the all of the Taylor homes over the years. They moved a lot but I spent so much time with Erin back then that I would just come over and hang out and everyone would just go about their day. Darryl was like an older bother and I would sit and talk with Sylvia for hours. We had such good banter.

Tuesday during the day I went and picked Al up at work because he has a sore toe that he needed to get looked at. We went to the walk- in clinic and to my surprise he got in right away. He thinks he may have damaged it playing soccer but the doctor (and I) think he has the “Gout”, the poor bastard. It sounds much worse and ugly than it is but I would much rather tell someone I poked my eye out with a pencil than tell someone I have the Gout.⁽¹⁾

Picked Shan up at the airport Tuesday night and we stopped for a pizza at the Casa Grande⁽²⁾ on the way home. Sounds like Shan had a blast with the girls in T.O. and spending some time with Anne and Bill⁽³⁾ topped off the trip. Ikea Girl came home with lot’s of cool stuff for our place too. Like some curtains for the bedroom instead of the big Star Wars poster I have been using for now! It’s nice to have her home again but I can’t help but wonder how long she will be staying?

Had a nice lunch with my mom yesterday. She insisted on paying for some reason even though she has been buying me lunch for the last year and a half. Regardless it was nice to see her on neutral ground and actually have some catching up to do. Stupid Christmas is coming fast and unless my patent goes through on those beer flavoured candy canes⁽⁴⁾ I am broke before I have even started again this year! Looking forward to seeing Toph and the Rattes though. Paul, Lissa, and the boys are here on Saturday so I cannot wait to see them.

(1) – Al will never admit he had the gout.

(2) – I took Shan to this place once to try something new and we really liked it. It’s closed now, but from what I remember it was a cool little hole in the wall place.

(3) – Anne and Bill are lifelong friends to Shan’s mom and pretty much family to Shan growing up. Salt of the earth people who I myself have enjoyed visiting. Shan and I stopped there on our trip to visit Mel and Jeff and stayed the night. Shan inherited Annie’s Pasta recipe and it’s a staple in our house. Awesome people.

(4) – I still couldn’t find any of these online if anyone wants to fund this idea.

Friday night before hockey I forgot to mention that I forgot my helmet. I don’t know if I forgot to mention it, or if I tend to take things for granted sometimes. I leave my equipment in my parents basement so that it doesn’t stink up my place. For that alone I can say my parents are great, unselfish role models. To top it off I forget my helmet on Friday and I don’t realize this until I am fully equipped and ready to hit the ice. I use a cell phone to call home:

Dad – “Hullo”

Me – “Hey dad, you busy?”⁽¹⁾

Dad – “Why?”

Me – “I think I might have left my helmet in the basement.

Dad – “One sec…ya it’s here, where are you?”

Me – “Bertrand”

Dad – “I’m on my way?”

If that wasn’t enough I realized on Tuesday at work that I forgot to pay my autopac on time. I ended up faxing them a void cheque so that they could set up monthly withdrawl but because I work until seven I couldn’t get the sticker for my plate. I called my dad. He told me that he had to drive my sister somewhere later anyway and that he could pick it up and then come by and drop it off when I was done work. I told him I could come by and get it and he said I shouldn’t be driving around like that anyway. He came over that night and gave me the papers. I asked where the sticker was and he had already put it on my car for me. He then handed me a bottle of wine and a couple of chickens from Safeway. And that is just this week! My parents have been this way for as long as I can remember.⁽²⁾

(1) – Many O’ conversations started this way and ended with my dad coming through in a pinch. Picking me up somewhere, droppping me off, helping a friend. Fuck I would give anything right now to be able to pick up the phone and ask him if he was busy right now just hear his voice.

(2) – Mom too. If I learned anything from my parents it was to be kind and generous. The door was always open for us and for friends as well. If someone was over at dinner time, they got fed. If someone needed something they were always there to help any way they could. It’s like that at our house now.

No poker this weekend. Saturday was Nolan’s hockey and I had nothing. Before the game I leaned over to Ian⁽¹⁾ and told him this was the first time at Saturday hockey I didn’t even feel like playing. Not sure what it was really but will pass it off as holiday stress. After the game Gould and I went and picked up Erin who seems to always have the ability to put things into perspective. We had this conversation on the way to dinner:

Erin: Tom do you believe in Santa?⁽²⁾

Peever/Gould: Oh ya forsure.

Erin: Ya me too but some kids in my class don’t.

Gould: Well those kids will be getting coal for Christmas,

Erin: I believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy…but not the weather man. I sure don’t believe in the weather man.⁽³⁾

Later on after I dropped off Gould we were in the car heading home and she was telling me about a great plate her Mom has for Santa’s cookies that has his name on it and everything:

Peever: “Do you leave cookies for Santa every year?”

Erin: “Yup, last year I left him 4 cookies and he only ate three!”

Peever: “Well maybe he didn’t like the cookies you left?”

Erin: “They were Christmas shortbread cookies so he must have liked those… (long pause)…well what does he expect, dinner and a show?”

Tonight Al and I went for dinner at the Puncher’s and to watch the final episode of Survivor. Of course Diane⁽⁴⁾ went all out on dinner and there were enough snacks for a small army. Tannis brought her bird there to keep with the whole pirate thing. This bird has no cage! It just wanders from person to person all night. It was pretty cool to see. The show started a little late because 60 Minutes was going on and on about the capture of Saddam⁽⁵⁾. All these guys in suits were interviewing “key people” in the capture and kept asking the stupidest questions over and over again. It could have been covered in 60 seconds if they stopped showing the same footage over and over again. Finally Survivor came on and as expected Sandra took it home. As for my pool, the Puncher is $75 richer for choosing Sandra and having 4 correct guesses in the previous weeks. Her mom and Linton were close behind with Sandra but only had three correct in previous weeks. Now looking forward to Survivor All-Stars.⁽⁶⁾

(1) – I think this might be “Gould’s Buddy” Ian. Not Bergman, or I would have wrote “Bergman”. Ian was the guys who brought Walter Penner, one of the best guys ever at Nolan’s Hockey but he also did man makers after the game and rubbed everyone the wrong way. One time he got me knee on knee and I heard Nolan yell at him like an outraged dad might yell at his teenage kid for getting arrested. Gould’s buddy didn’t last long after that.

(2) – I remember struggling with this with my own kids. I think Lexi may have gotten an extra year of believing and then Ashlyn just looked me in the eyes one day (like she does) and was like “just tell the truth dad” – Fun fact, the Santa in the main picture is actually Amber’s Dad.

(3) – Erin said funny shit like this all the time, without missing a beat. I remember one other time specifically when we were talking about her friends and she said something about “not being anybody’s back up singer” and I was like “Yes Queen” and Shan still uses that to this day.

(4) – Diane is Puncher’s mom and she has always taken good care of us when we were at the house. I remember how Puncher’s parents made me feel so welcome that I would show up there with other friends like I lived there. That’s just how they were. Similar to my own parents in that way.

(5) – In 2003, Saddam Hussein’s regime was overthrown by a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, starting in March, with the stated reasons of possessing weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and links to terrorism, claims later found baseless. After going into hiding, Saddam was captured by U.S. forces in a “spider hole” near his birthplace on December 13, 2003, a significant moment symbolizing the end of his rule, although his trial and execution came later.

(6) – Amber Brkich won Survivor: All-Stars (Season 8), which aired in 2004 but filmed in late 2003, beating her then-boyfriend Rob Mariano in a 4-3 jury vote to claim the $1 million prize

Just want to get a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY out to Toph in T.O. Hope you have a great time out there and I want details on the night. Just because I don’t have Microsoft Messenger and Microsoft video conferencing doesn’t mean I don’t want to chat! We all miss you out here buddy. Have a good night but be safe…we can’t be there to take it together.⁽¹⁾

(1) – I should let Gould tell this story but it stems from a night out drinking with Toph. Sometimes when Toph has a few too many he starts talking a bit funny and he walks around a little bit with his eye closed. This particular time I think they were at Drew’s place and he knocked over a bookcase or something. Bry came over to help (as he does) and Toph said “It’s OK Bry, we’ll take it together…”.

Friday night hockey with Steve was a lot better than last time. Getting to know some of the guys better so there is a comfort level rising there. After the game I met the guys at Sully’s for a bon fire. I had gotten a call thursday night from Mike asking if I could help him move Shannon (his sister). I believe his words were “she doesn’t have much stuff, 2 or 3 big things and that’s about it”. Oh there was stuff, and it was also never mentioned that she was on the 5th floor at the end of the hall! Of course I am just kidding…I don’t get to help Mike out very often and I have always been good friends with Shan⁽¹⁾ so I would have been more upset if they hadn’t called me for help. I have been spoiled by the Dickenson’s on many occassion so I was happy to help out.

I was a little tired for Saturday hockey and black was off to a slow start but we pulled it out in the end. After hockey Paul and I went back to my place and waited on Bry and George. Those guys stock my place up with beer like a milkman delivers milk. G, Angie, and the puncher⁽²⁾ (as Paul would say) came by shorlty after that and we went to a party at Lynne’s place for her birthday. From there we ended up a Coyote’s where we ran into Vern, Steve, Gaelyn, and Kira. Didn’t really like it there but we had a good time. Paul and I got a ride to George’s (burgers) with Timmy, Angie, and Jen. I just want to thank Angie and Tim for hauling us around all night.

Sunday was black⁽³⁾. I was up pretty early and picked up Bry for lunch and then took him to pick up his car. Then I went to Home Depot with the Ratte’s. Sunday night, went to Amber’s and watched the MTV Music Awards and got to see Erin for a bit so that was nice,

(1) – Shan and I always got along well. Whenever there was an event, even if we were in other relationships, we would spend most of our time together at these things. Like the Universe is trying to tell you something. Truth is, I found out about this move when Mike showed up at hockey (Highlander days) and announced Shan and Todd were breaking up; to which I responded “does she know me?” – It was then Mike asked if I wanted to help move, so I did.

(2) – The origin of “The Puncher” nickname comes from Ratte. Simply because he got punched a lot. So does Brey!

(3) – There are many instances in my writing back in the day where I reference “Black Sunday”. These are hangover days.

It is amazing how dependent you become on the internet. I have been offline for a week and I have no idea how much money I have in the bank and I don’t know any phone numbers. To make matters worse it seems as though I haven’t updated my website in as much time as Timmy G⁽¹⁾.

Shan and I are offcially in and everything is awesome. We have even merged our DVD collection and “Fight Club”⁽²⁾ looks just fine between to “Mermaids” and “Benny & Joon”. Just last night we borrowed Crocket’s⁽³⁾ truck to get the last of Shan’s things at the ranch and almost everything has a spot, even my Hulk Hands and Paul’s Woody Woodpecker lamp⁽⁴⁾. We even hung some shelves today and Shan only swore a couple times.

Haven’t been working so much at the NWC because December is a slow month. The Montana’s gig is going well but is more fun than financially rewarding. The experience as a server is something I have always wanted just because it is the kind of job that will always be hiring and makes great part-time gain. With no experience, good luck.

It is almost Christmas and Mike and Tara have sent me Kaelyn’s first meeting with Santa. Can’t wait to see Toph and the Ratte’s when the Holidays are here. Shan is heading out to TO for the weekend to spend some time with Mel and Lucy (friends made in Thailand) so it’s poker weekend or something. Most likely I will sit in front of a movie eating some Zesty⁽⁵⁾ and wiping my hands on my pants but I like to the impression that when nobody is around we drink beer and smoke cigars. Right guys?

(1) – Timmy G used to have the best website. Picture the 4th Line but online. It had trivia, profiles, a hockey pool, and even music to get you in trouble at work.

(2) – 100% in my top 5 all time.

(3) – Crocket is my dad’s best friend. He was always there, just as my dad was always there for him. He would give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. He is also Puncher’s uncle which I didn’t know when we first started dating. That was odd.

(4) – Ratte gave me this lamp before he left for England. For me it was an extension of him while he was gone. A reminder of our childhood mission. I still have it but it’s not allowed out.

(5) – Zesty is the best Doritos flavour. Prove me wrong.