In Search of Truth and a Decent Non-Murdery Place to Live: Eve's Grad Weekend Part 2

I feel I should hasten to add that I did not have a fever in Hamilton. I got meds on board for the UTI quickly, and I did manage to sit through two plays and only pee at intermission, so I was thankful for that. The fever thing started after we got back. I have stupid tiny airways, which makes everything worse and longer-lasting. 

On Saturday Matt and Eve went to the first of three apartment-viewing appointments she had booked, while I got some antibiotics for my UTI. We had a chill afternoon after our busy day Friday, and then we went to hang out with Matt's brother and his wife and our niece (Lydia) and nephew (Mitchell), which is always a good time.

The kids were very into the hockey playoffs. Jeremy said every morning they would ask 1) did the Oilers win 2) did Connor McDavid score and 3) did a Jewish player score (my SIL is Jewish). Lydia supplied that the two Jewish players on the Edmonton Oilers are Jake Walman and Zach Hyman, but Zach Hyman now had a broken wrist, so he was out. 

Mitchie likes to ride around on people.

With or without a corn cob.

Lydia told us about her sleepover summer camp. Laura said it was nice that none of the girls were Mean Girls. Lydia said sagely "well. Some feelings were hurt."

They made an amazing summer dinner with hamburgers and hot dogs and grilled vegetables and salad and corn and it was amazing. Throughout the evening a few times Mitchie would start talking about something and Lydia would hiss at him to stop, until she finally yelled "YOU'RE RUINING EVERYTHING", and he asked with genuine curiosity "AM I?" With exceptional obliviousness, I did not catch on until the very last second that the secret was a surprise birthday cake. I am not a child, and I was totally okay - overjoyed, really - spending my birthday weekend hanging with Matt and Eve in Hamilton, but not gonna lie, this was kind of awesome. 

Lydia also did the card.

We also revisited Lydia's iconic Broccoli picture. I love it so much, I'm so happy it's still up, I want to buy it from her and have it framed.

And then the game was on and it was hard to get the kids to do or pay attention to anything else. If we tried to wait for a commercial Mitchell would say rapturously "I LOVE the commercials". Eve and I headed back to the hotel after the first period, which is usually when Mitchell goes to bed. Matt said he begged and begged to stay up for the second period, and Jeremy relented, whereupon Mitchie fell fast asleep sprawled in front of the tv. 

Sunday was my birthday AND father's day. 

Eve gave me some tiny adorable presents.

We went to another apartment viewing.

On the way to the apartment, we saw a billboard that said dial 844 FIND TRUTH. Eve was perturbed because it didn't add up to a regular (xxx -xxx-xxxx) phone number format. We debated about this until I decided to try calling it. It actually worked. When they said "dial 1 if you have questions about your spiritual journey" Matt said "please don't". 

The apartment was okay. Slightly less nice than the one they'd seen the day before. As we were following the agent down the hallway, Matt whispered to me that it was important to be aware that no matter how nice the apartment is, the hallways are all murdery. Eve confirmed this. She said it's a thing online for people to video themselves walking to their apartments: "the hallway - DEATH, DOOM, HORROR; my apartment - Twinkle Twinkle, Peace, Loveliness". 

Then we drove into Westdale, the pretty little town around campus where Eve lived until May. We had breakfast at her favourite place, which has the most amazing sourdough bagels, and outdoor tables in the sun.

We went to the adorable bookstore (it has a LADDER). We looked at the Father's Day box.

Eve nearly bought the rusty tractor book for Matt.

Then Matt asked if we wanted to get frozen yogurt. Eve and I were ambivalent, but then Matt said he really wanted some chocolate frozen yogurt, and it was father's day, so obviously that was cool. Then we realized he was marching in a determined fashion towards where TCBY was thirty years ago, when it has actually moved up a street and across. I worked there for a summer when I lived in Hamilton, and every time we go into the new one Eve tells them I'm kind of a big deal there. They do not seem impressed. 

The place was busy. The radio station was seventies groove, but it kept phasing out, which was half annoying, half amusing. By the time The Devil Went Down to Georgia came on, we were snorting with laughter.

We drove around the neighbourhood downtown where Eve will likely be living next year, went back to the hotel for a bit, then went to the Burlington waterfront for dinner. There was a music festival on and it was a nice evening. The restaurant was nice but the food was a little disappointing. The dessert was so weird we bailed on it and got gelato walking back to the car. Still a fun evening, and the gelato was amazing.