An A++++++++++ Christmas in Halifax AND Moncton

Days after McKim-Mas the van took Kristina, Jackie, and me, all to Moncton and we had a lunch there and Franzi drove.

The Christmas tree and decorations were out.

The tree was lit up with new LED Christmas lights.

The Christmas Story decorations, including the Leg Lamp, the Flick’s-Tongue-On-A-Flagpole statue, and Ralphie’s House were on the shelf.

The mini wooden Christmas Tree Dad had made after Molly’s arrival was lit up beautifully.

Mom made some soup, chicken soup for some of us including me and veggie for Franzi, a vegetarian, and one soup blended for Kristina. We enjoyed this and then a little ice cream, some with cookies.

Then we had a chat and while we did it started to snow, so Franzi decided it was time to go so they would not get caught in snow.

Later Mom’s Aunt Pat showed up and we chatted and Aunt Pat gave me an early Christmas gift: A John Denver Christmas CD with one of the songs which he performs on his Muppets CD, but on this CD no Muppets sing.

That night Dad and I went to Irving to get some gas and then Wheaton’s Store to get Mom a gift:  5 foam bath soaps, one of her favorite things which we got last year.

Then we went to the new liquor store to buy drinks for Christmas celebrations.

That night we had fish and chips for supper and then we watched A Christmas Story together.

The next day we decided to work on the pies, so I peeled the apples while Mom made the crust, using the family cookbook with all the nostalgic photos.

Later we went out and did some shopping.

We went to Shopper’s to check the mail and we got the mail.

Then we went to Scholar’s Choice and I saw a small toy Border Collie and I wanted it, so Mom bought it. We also bought a new Scattergories game and a puzzle which would be a gift for Mom.

That night Jennifer had us at her house for spaghetti.

Then I watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.

The following morning (Christmas Eve Already!) we packed up the car with gifts for Christmas and luggage, dog beds, our 2 Cotons de Tulear Liza and Lupin (we left our Border Collie Ella and old deaf Bearded Collie Sprocket home and Jen took care of them), got in the car, and headed out to Halifax.

While on the road I gave Stephanie live updates on where we were.

Once in Halifax, we found Stephanie’s house and set up.

I had the same room I had years ago.

Then we watched A Christmas Story on Stephanie’s Samsung TV with HD that made the movie look like a BBC show.

Then we waited for Mary, Glen’s mother, to come and join us for Turkey Dinner. She arrived and gave me an early Christmas Gift: A Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2017 book in which Momo, the hiding-and-seeking Border Collie in the book Jennifer gave me last year makes a cameo.

Then we awaited Turkey Dinner on Christmas Eve, which we had.

They had bought a Ginger Ale in New York that was not pop and did not have the sugar Sussex, Canada Dry, and Schweppes did, and I had and enjoyed that.

After Turkey Dinner came Dad’s Plum Pudding with Hard Sauce and Mom’s Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream, and it turned out to be a success.

Then we read The Night Before Christmas and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Next morning (Christmas Day) I opened my stocking while wearing the Santa hat which was next to it when I found the stocking.

In it were 2 packages of gum, the toy Border Collie which I saw at Scholar’s Choice, 2 DVD cases (one was a Christmas movie called Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas and the other was a movie called Hachi, [spoiler alert] about an Akita whose owner finds him at a train station and he waits for his master there every day, even years after his owner’s death), a deck of cards and a Crib game.

Then we had Stephanie’s Family-Famous Breakfast Burritos.

Then we sat in various places... and opened gifts.

Stephanie and Glen got me a New York by Subway book.

Erin and Oliver gave me a Holiday trivia game, a book called Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Very Good, Very Bad Dog and a 1981 Remember When book with all the facts and ads from 1981.

Mom and Dad gave me a DVD collection with a bunch of old dog stories, one of which stars Lassie and lots of which starred Rin Tin Tin, a Canadian Dogs Annual, art supplies to used at Creative Connections, a Border Collie Calendar, and a DVD called The Music Man with Matthew Broderick.

Jennifer got me a DVD called The Nut Job, Axe deodorant, shampoo, and body spray, and Old Spice shampoo.

Melody and the family gave me a book called Labrador on the Lawn.

Then the whole family opened the Scattergories Categories game.

Then we took a walk around the neighborhood and through the park and around Citadel, me taking Mo, Stephanie’s Coton de Tulear, Lupin’s Grandson on leash.

Then we came home, and then I watched Elf on Stephanie’s Hi-Def TV, and again it looked like a BBC show.

That night we had Hash with Sparkling Apple Juice and more Apple Pie and Plum Pudding.

The next morning we went to Miracle on 34th Street at Neptune Theatre, meeting Glen’s Mother there, and I got into the story.

Then we decided to head home as they were calling for a storm the next morning.

That night I watched the movie Hachi.

The next morning it was storming for some time, then it cleared up. We stayed home. And we played some of the new Scattergories game.

That night we watched Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever.

The next day we took a drive to do some grocery shopping at Sobeys and decided to buy some Sparkling Apple Juice and nacho chips to give to L’Arche to use for our New Years Eve Celebration.

Then we drove to Frank’s Music to pick out a few birthday gifts for my 36th Birthday.

I chose a DVD set of Season 4 of Friends, the CD Much Dance 2017, and the CD Raffi: Singable Songs for the Very Young for nostalgia.

Poetically, the night before I had a dream in which our Mason & Risch Piano came back and I found the goodbye card for Mrs. Weldon and Hillsborough School was putting on an Elf-based Christmas party for 1st Graders in 1987-1988 in which I was Buddy and my classmate Danah was Miles Finch, the small Elf-sized fighting writer in Elf.

Then I watched the movie Miracle on 34th Street, and the lines in the movie were the same as the lines in the play.

Then we got gas in preparation for my journey back to Saint John the next day.

Then I watched Eight Days a Week: a Beatles Movie on The Movie Network.

The next morning I woke up and we hit the road. Then I got back to Saint John and Mom headed home due to a forecasted storm.

She stopped at Chris and Milton’s house in Sussex Corner.

I believe this year was the best Christmas Vacation Ever! I loved everything about this holiday season! 

Grade 11 & 12 & Goodbye High School

Chapter 11: Grade 11

Grade 11 came very quickly.  It was a new school.  It had a pool, a gym, a cafeteria, and lots of fun things. 

They had a group that regularly met called S.T.A.R., an acronym standing for Students Together Against Racism.  We prepared poems, speeches, and songs, and one song was The Young Bloods’ Get Together which came up in Forrest Gump. 

We presented these at different schools all over New Brunswick and a school near Halifax called Cole Harbour High School, where there were lots of racial issues we had to address.  They already had their own S.T.A.R. committee and later they visited us, giving their own speeches and songs, and their finale song was John Lennon’s Imagine. 

Simon, our Golden Retriever was very old and was developing health issues that the Animal Hospital was overlooking, and he passed away.  He had been spending lots of time with Melody, who had a house near the church and near Riverview High School.  Sometimes when Melody would pick me up after school Simon would be at her side and we would walk to her house, get in her Toyota Tercel, and head home.  Sometimes we spent time together. 

I joined the school’s band and we played beautiful songs in practice and at important things like assemblies, games, and the Remembrance Day service in the theatre. 

I also regularly played guitar and sometimes piano at the coffee houses held in the school’s cafeteria. 

I joined the church’s youth choir.  Many members went to school with me.  They hosted parties in the hall with music, food, watching the movies Grease and That Thing You Do, and piano playing. 

Mom and I went to a used bookstore and I got a copy of Eric Knight’s Lassie Come-Home and I read this in school for English, and I was lost in the story.  I had been renting and watching a VHS of the 1994 movie Lassie in which a family moves from the city to the country, picking up the Collie of the title up and she helps turn things around with the family. 

I joined basketball for house league again. 

Later Mom, Dad, and I went to Halifax for the C.A.C.L. conferences at the Sheraton Casino Halifax Hotel.  I swam in the hotel’s pool.  There I went to HMV and used the listening stations there and bought Great Big Sea’s Play CD. 

I helped the school’s basketball team by keeping stats for each game. 

The Christmas that followed I got lots of CDs, one of which played at a Halloween party at the church hall.  I also got a hockey CD ROM game.  We got a video camera so as to film us family members for Gram who was getting very old and missed us.  We filmed Brennan while he was quite young, Erin playing basketball for Moncton High’s basketball team playing in Saint John, me playing basketball in house league in the final, me playing guitar and piano at some of the school’s coffee houses, the church choir singing beautiful anthems from sheet music Melody had ordered for us, and all our pets. 

My Birthday also came up and I got a camera to take pictures of things like basketball played by Erin, pets, and other family and events. 

The musical Annie came up at Moncton High and I saw the musical and during the scene where Annie adopts Sandy before being caught by the cop who takes her back to Miss Hannigan’s Orphanage, there were real live dogs, and one of them I had seen in Superdogs a couple summers ago.  Sandy was also played by a real live dog. 

Melody soon got a Golden Retriever puppy named Ben.  Later she got a piano for her house. 

Dillon soon had another one of his flyball matches, this time at Beausejour Curling Club, and he did very well, and I took some pictures of him and his teammates and his opponents. 

We also went to the Dog Show at an arena, which we saw every year.  I loved the Collies, the Shetland Sheepdogs, and the Retrievers. 

Pete, our Cocker Spaniel, developed health issues, which are popular with most Cockers, and he passed away. 

Summer came up and I got the yearbook, which also sometimes I pull out to remember those old times. 

I got a summer job with Future Shop, where I had gotten the CD player and the CDs the previous summer.  This was my first job, and I was to dust shelves at first, then move on to pricing things like CDs, video games, computer games, and VHS movies.  I also helped customers find a certain title or item.  I also helped customers try a certain CD they wanted before they bought it.  I also bought a few CDs with the money paid. 

Sometimes we took trips to Halifax, staying in the Holiday Inn Select, where we had stayed as kids.  We swam in the pool, went to HMV, went to Mountain Equipment Co-Op, and had great meals. 

Chapter 12:  Grade 12

This was my final grade of school, which was to be as heartfelt as my last year in Junior High. 

This time I got a Co-op Ed job with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, doing computer data for the company. 

Again I joined S.T.A.R. and the school’s band. 

Erin quit basketball and started doing theatre and musicals. 

This year the school had 2 productions, one she sat out, and one in which she was in. 

The first musical was called Forever Plaid, starring 4 men as a harmony group singing well known old songs as well as holiday hits. 

The second musical was Mame, which was well known for its music and its comical lines. 

Erin had the role of Pageen Ryan.  By now Brennan was learning to talk and sing, and Erin got him to sing some of the songs from this musical, which he remembered. 

This Christmas I got the book Floss, about a young Border Collie who loves to play with children and their soccer ball in a town’s park, but moves to the country to work with sheep and has to learn to take the place of an elderly Border Collie by herding sheep. 

I also got a huge dog book. 

Quite sadly, Ben was now 1 year old, but he developed a brain tumor, which caused him to turn on Emma, nearly killing her, and he had to be put down. 

Melody later got another young Retriever, this time a female named Mabel. 

She later met a man whom she saw a lot named Matt Taylor, who was currently in the war in Kosovo as a peacekeeper.  He later came home. 

Again sometimes we traveled to Halifax and stayed at the Holiday Inn Select, swimming in their pool. 

There we went to HMV and Mountain Equipment Co-op. 

Mom and I went to Fredericton to do some rehabilitation at a place called the Stan Cassidy Centre. 

They had a piano which I played, and at the nearby mall I bought the VHS of the 1994 movie Lassie, which I had mentioned earlier. 

Later a sequel to the Babe movie I had mentioned in a previous chapter came to VHS and I bought it, anxious as to what Fly and Rex the sheepdogs do and say. 

I borrowed Jennifer’s copy of Nop’s Trials and read it for English and noticed the language was similar to Lassie Come-Home. 

Both read like the King James Version of the Holy Bible. 

In Nop’s Trials the dogs talk like they are biblical characters in the King James Bible and in Lassie Come-Home most of the words look like those in the King James Version of the Holy Bible. 

Now comes the really heartfelt part.  The prom came up, which was really fun.  Then came the graduation.  It was a heartfelt goodbye to me blessed school years and friends. 

Melody and Matt took me to Greenwood, Nova Scotia, to stay a weekend in her house. 

There I watched Dr. Dolittle and That Thing You Do on their Sanyo TV and shopped at a local CD store, buying Grammy Nominees 1999 and U2’s Greatest Hits 1980-1999. 

Then a camping trip came up in Fundy National Park with Mel, Matt, and my fellow choir members, most of whom were school friends, although this turned out to be so much of a nightmare I could have sung the last part of the last verse of The Beach Boys’ Sloop John B. 

It was rainy and our tent was leaking and I was so wet I could have felt like Cameron felt all the time in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

There were hikes with Mabel, music listening, meals, BBQs, and singing together. 

I came home early, clothes very wet.

And as soon as I was dry and clean, I took the leash, put it on Dillon, and took him for a walk. 

Moncton High’s Forever Plaid cast and a few members of the Drama club joined forces to do some Disney songs at Centennial Park for Canada Day celebrations. 

Later the wedding with Melody and Matt came up, which was fun.  Not Fun the music group, but we did Carry On.   

This was followed by something even more wonderful:  Remember in the Grade 9 chapter I mentioned that after watching Babe several times I wished for my own long-coated Border Collie? 

Well, I made a phone call using the number on an ad in the paper for Border Collie puppies, and I was told I was getting a Border Collie puppy! 

I named her Molly, after a Border Collie on an agility tape I had taped earlier before Melody’s wedding. 

She arrived the following autumn just before the tip-off tournament for high school basketball. 

She and I walked together and sometimes Dillon and Molly spent time together. 

He and Molly would take turns to walk with me on leash. 

Chapter 9: This is Me in Grade 9

Editor's Note: this week, we pick back up on the school years with Grades 9 & 10. Forget what happened in Grade 8? No problem. Read the Grade 8 story.

Chapter 9: This is Me in Grade 9

This was my first grade in High School, in a place called Harrison Trimble High School.  I got up, got breakfast, and then headed to Bessborough School, which was our bus stop.  My bus was 105.  Within minutes of my arrival at Bessborough School, Bus 105 showed up.  In the morning it was a standard yellow school bus, and for the way home from school it was a Codiac Transit city bus serving as Bus 105. 

We boarded the bus and it stopped in various neighborhoods to pick up students.  It passed Centennial Park and Rocky Stone Field where high school and local league football and sometimes soccer were played.  Within minutes the bus arrived at Harrison Trimble High School.  I reported to my homeroom, and just like in Junior High, each grade I had a series of teachers. 

I had a series of TAs.  My first T.A. was J.V. cheerleaders’ coach Miss Mullins.  My second TA was hockey manager Mr. Bannister.  My third TA was Mrs. Robinson, whom I had met at Bessborough School during a Junior High grade.  My homeroom teacher was social studies teacher and J.V. boys’ basketball coach Mr. Grimmer.  My English grammar teacher’s name was Mrs. Pipes.  My French teacher was volleyball coach Mrs. Bourque, who was a counselor at Camp Centennial.  My technology teacher was Mr. Kitchen.  My music teacher’s name was Mrs. Killam, and her room had keyboards with various voices and a headset for each keyboard.  My gym teacher was hockey coach Mr. Belong who looked like the Ducks’ coach in The Mighty Ducks 1 and 2. 

This grade and others coming up were lots of fun, as we had not only intramural sports of all kinds, but we had famous sports teams like basketball, football, hockey, curling, soccer, and, of course, cheerleading.  They had pep rallies for things like football games, big basketball games, and big hockey games. 

The theatre had a grand piano which I played sometimes. 

I took guitar lessons from a teacher named Shane and then a teacher named Michel. 

I went to the Moncton Coliseum for my first hockey game: an Under 17 tournament game. 

I joined house league basketball and we played on weeknights.  Erin also played house league and middle school basketball.  She also joined a Moncton provincial team called the Hawks, who played all around town and played in a tournament in Bedford, Nova Scotia. 

I went to the football games and did the catchy cheers with the cheerleaders. 

Mrs. Killam got us to do some of our own jingles for companies or organizations, so I did a jingle for my favorite car at the time: the Mercury Grand Marquis, using the Honky Tonk sound on the keyboard. 

One Sunday my church had an apple picking day, which was a lot of fun.  We went to Belliveau Orchard in Memramcook.  There a horse- or tractor-pulled wagon took us to a series of apple trees and we were to pick apples from trees marked with a certain colored ribbon.  This was followed by a picnic at an abandoned aboriginal church yard. 

We went on a field trip by school bus to the University of Moncton’s C.E.P.S. for the Hoop Classic, my first Hoop Classic game. 

The Christmas that followed I asked for a Timex Ironman digital watch like Dad’s, and I got one. 

We went on a bus trip to the Moncton Coliseum for the Hockey Classic in which our hockey team was playing. 

The Easter that followed I got the VHS Babe, and when we watched it for the first time I fell in love with Fly the female sheepdog. 

We got another dog: a Bearded Collie like Tim Allen constantly turns into in the 2006 remake of The Shaggy Dog, named Emma.  She and Dillon played wrestle together a lot.  It was the same thing with Emma and Simon sometimes. 

Grade 9 soon ended and summer came up.  I got my first high school yearbook.  I still pull that up and look back on the good times from this grade. 

I have some bad news about that summer and some good news. 

The bad news is our BMW 325i had had it.  The good news is we got a new car: a dark blue Saab 900. 

I also got a new electric guitar: A sunburst Squier Stratocaster with a new amp. 

Chapter 10: Grade 10

This was my second year in high school.  This was known as a Foundation Block year. 

I again took guitar lessons. 

Gramps passed away of cancer and old age and it was a heartfelt day at the funeral.  That is when I started shaving, using Gramps’ razor. 

I had the same teachers as last year, except this year my main TA was Mrs. Robinson. 

I joined house league basketball again. 

This year I was so enthusiastic I was named Honorary Cheerleader. 

Not only this, but they got me to play my electric guitar in the theatre, and so I played The Eagles’ Take It Easy.

I again went to the football games, this time joining the Cheerleaders and doing the cheers and moves with them, except the lifts. 

Erin played basketball for the Moncton High School J.V. women’s basketball team. 

We went to Disney World in Orlando for a week, and also Universal Studios.  We got to see how they make certain movies I had seen or was about to see look real.  They had real and fake animals like Dalmatian puppies, horses, and all kinds of animals.  They had rides and showed us how they make things in movies look real. 

This year I went to several Hoop Classic games at C.E.P.S. and the women’s Hoop Classic at Moncton High School.   

This Christmas I got a small keyboard. 

We also went to the Hockey Classic. 

Dillon was at the house almost every day I came home from school, but one day, I came to a surprise:  Mom had rescued a lost terrier mix named Harvey in peril, and was waiting for the owner to claim him.  He and Dillon played a lot together. 

That day our neighbors were in a play in the Drama Festival of a sequel to The Wizard of Oz called Trouble in Oz. 

Dillon started playing flyball and I saw a match and got to see and make friends with all kinds of dogs, including lots of friendly, nice-looking Border Collies. 

Grade 10 soon ended, and I got the yearbook.  I also sometimes pull this out to remember some fun stuff from this grade. 

When I came home I was met with a surprise:  I was to transfer to Riverview High School with Mrs. McArdle as my TA again as I needed a band and music program for my last 2 grades and Harrison Trimble did not had either of those, except a keyboard class. 

Jennifer had a baby: a boy named Brennan.  This meant I was an uncle! 

Brian joined a musical group called Bishop who played on Breakfast Television and at a Canada Day concert before fireworks came up. 

I got my first CD player and with it a couple of CDs:  Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Ceiling and the Spice Girls’ debut album.  Later I started regularly buying CDs. 

Kiwanis Park and Harold Page Field were hosting world baseball and I saw some games, and that is when I had my first Barq’a Root Beer.  Catchy commercials for this were playing for this product. 

Later Mrs. McArdle took me for a tour of my new school, followed by a trip to McDonald’s so I could get a Smarties McFlurry.  

An A+++++++++++++++++++++++ Old-Fashioned Family Christmas without the Bumpus Hounds or Squirrels in Trees

2 days after McKim-Mas Charlotte, Jackie, Stephane, and I, all went to drop me off at my Mom’s house...and to have a little lunch and had an unexpected visit from one of my family’s old friends, Alma’s lobster plant’s ex-owner Jim Wood and Stephane, Jackie and Charlotte got to meet them while having Dr. Oetker’s veggie and spinach pizza. My housemates each got an SPCA Moncton Pet Calendar. After chatting the rest of the house left and I stayed for the Christmas Holidays! The house had its tree up with the lights on but no presents yet. There was also the small wooden Christmas tree Dad had made me in 1999 after Molly’s arrival, the statue of Flick with his tongue on a flag pole from A Christmas Story, a model of Ralphie’s house in A Christmas Story, a small replica of the leg lamp from A Christmas Story, and Christmas books all over.

I brought a couple New York movies to remember last year: Home Alone 2, and Sleepless In Seattle, in fact purchased last year at the Empire State Building where Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks and Tom Hanks’s character’s son finally meet in the end of the movie! (See full story in New York Blog) We visited Jen, Brian, and the boys Danny, Pacey, Connor, and Brennan who was home from Mount A for the Christmas Holidays, who had their Christmas tree up with LED lights, but no presents under the tree yet. They had their Christmas books out, including Jennifer’s publication Gadzooks the Christmas Goose, a collection of stories including the above story, and a collection of stories including an entry by Jennifer called Of Waiting Rooms and Russian Blues.

This year, unlike past Christmases, I not only peeled apples for Mom’s Apple Pie, but I also made the crusts AND reminded her to use the extra crust for Christmas-shapes on the top of the pies.

Mom also made her traditional shortbreads with the red and green cherries on top.

As a tradition we watched Christmas movies like Elf, (also set in New York­) National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Story.

When Christmas Eve FINALLY arrived, (one more sleep till Christmas!) Stephanie, Glen, and Mo, (their Coton de Tulear, Lupin’s grandson in fact) arrived at noon hour and we had Lasagna tonight, which Stephanie called “Fa-la-la-la-la la-la la Lasagna!” After supper we watched National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Stephanie asked for my e-mail password and changed it. 

On Christmas Morning, I opened my stocking. In it were Old Spice Timber deodorant, a DVD that had 17 Again and Hairspray, an Herbal Essences travel-sized shampoo, Olay vanilla-scented body wash, Orange San Pellegrino, and cheesies.

We had our traditional Breakfast Burritos, which we have every year on Christmas Morning.

Then my family started looking for and calling Ella and thought she had wandered somewhere, got lost, and/or gotten into some kind of peril! I thought it was flyer time. This continued while I was downstairs, and somebody got me to look downstairs for her, and though I didn’t hear any dog crying sounds or claw scratching sounds, I looked into the room next to Dad’s workshop with the laundry sink...and there she was.

When the presents could finally be opened, I opened Stephanie’s 2: a set of fizzy drinks and a book created by Stephanie about last year’s New York Christmas.

Then I opened some of Mom and Dad’s to me: DVDs Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy, Mist: The Roundup, Mist: The Great Challenge, Mist: A Helping Paw, and Project X starring Ferris Bueller’s Matthew Broderick at his teen age. Among the traditional gifts were a Dogs Annual and a Border Collie calendar.

Mom also conducted a treasure hunt leading to a small keyboard which I kept seeing in stock at Shoppers Drug Mart when getting the mail with Mom. The first song, seeing as it was Christmas, was the Charlie Brown theme. I also played My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music.

Erin got me another subscription to National Geographic Traveler Magazine.

Melody got me a novel called Understanding Border Collies.

Jennifer got me a cool book, called Finding Momo, about a Border Collie who travels across Canada and the United States, and it’s like Where’s Waldo because you have to find him because he likes to play hide and seek.

As an added bonus, Stephanie got me to come up while I was watching Hairspray... and gave me her I-Pad! Her office gave her a new one and she gave her old one to me along with its charger. Now I could use Face Time and Scrabble against the computer, email, and instant message.

When suppertime came Jennifer’s family, including Brian’s father Ron (who had lost his wife Loretta and I went to the beautiful funeral mass near Halifax), all joined us, including Mom’s Aunt Pat, who had lost her husband Bill. I had the turkey, potatoes, cranberry sauce (which dad sometimes dubs “Cranberry Sarce”), turnip, and Jennifer’s Sweet Potato Casserole, which I make several times at McKim House, using the family cookbook with the pictures. I also had one of my sparkling drinks with supper.

When dessert finally came I announced that, as previously stated, unlike last year, I not only peeled the apples, but made the crust as well.

I had even peeled the potatoes and the carrots for the Turkey Dinner.

Some had plum pudding with hard sauce, but, as a tradition, I chose Mom’s Apple Pie with Breyers Vanilla Ice Cream.

I went to bed looking forward to seeing the new Star Wars movie now in theatres with the Kents and Stephanie and Glen...

But on Boxing Day morning Stephanie, Glen, and Mo, had to go back to Halifax as they were forecasting most of Atlantic Canada to get a huge snowstorm.

Nonetheless we saw Star Wars and it was gripping and tense.

I was both preparing to jump and wishing Stephanie and Glen were there to watch the movie with Glen wearing his Star Wars shirt.

Next day it started storming, but my Mom and I took a walk in Mapleton Park, Mom with Sprocket on leash, and me with Ella on leash, and it made me think of the time I carried Linus in that park during that storm (Remember that, Erin?).

When we got back to the car we were just about to go from the park to Sobeys and Shopper’s Drug Mart...when we ran into our friend and dog-sitter Caroline, now taking care of a coonhound, and Ella started crying excitedly and started licking Caroline’s face.

After a long chat we got in the car and went to Sobeys to get a few groceries and to Shopper’s to get the mail, and noticed on the way home some cars had the wrong tires, making the common misconception that the term “all season tires” means the tires cover all 4 seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter, and were spinning and having trouble down the now snow-covered roads.

I played Scrabble with Mom and won by playing a J on a Triple Letter Score, an X on a Triple Letter Score, SUQ on ZAGS for a Triple Word Score, and a few 3-, 4-, and 5-point letters on Double Letter Scores.

When I got home I continued Hairspray...when Mom came down and invited me to come with her and Dad to a Miracles’ home game at the Moncton Coliseum, though it was still storming, but this was one of few early birthday celebrations for me. Though they lost by turning the ball over and making poor shots, we had fun. 

Early Birthday Gift

Next morning Mom went to the gym...while Dad and I went to Champlain Place, not only to find a battery for his now 30+-year-old Swiss Army Watch, but to find me an early birthday present, and I was surprised that he took me not to HMV...but to the watch department of Sears...and bought me a Timex Analog watch with 3 dials, date, and chronograph.

I took a picture with my BlackBerry and shared it with my sisters and later Victoria at my house.

That afternoon Mom and I AGAIN took Sprocket and Ella to Mapleton Park...and ran into Caroline and the Coonhound AGAIN for the second day in a row and Ella started crying and licking Caroline’s face again and we chatted again. We proceeded with the walk and went home.

That evening we had an early Birthday celebration supper.

Next day there was another storm and Jennifer joined us for a Scrabble game and I beat her!

The next day I packed, headed to the bus station...and headed home with my I-Pad, new watch, new movies, and new books, magazine, and calendar to bring home. And I got home safely! 

Brothers & Sisters: A Tale of Two Siblings

In this special edition of the blog, one sister and one brother compare childhood memories.

Stephanie

The first memory I can taste the shape of is this: a family friend, a priest, hid a remote control behind his back and turned the channels IN FRONT OF MY EYES. I thought his direct line to God empowered his flicking capability.

Patrick

My first family memories were my adoption day, my first day of school, my first Christmas with the McGrath, my first camping trips with the family and dogs, my first hotel trips with the family [Halifax and Boston], my first trip with the family to pick up a puppy, [Simon, our Golden Retriever] and my first plane trip to Toronto to see Gram. 

One McGrath behaved well in New York, one did not.

Stephanie

My first family memories of you, Pat, my MOST FAVOURITE BROTHER EVER were of a one-piece splash suit  - you holding mom’s hand and waiting for me & your other sisters (which one is your favourite?). On mom’s other hand was Erin, our youngest sister (is she your favourite?) always decked out in sweat pants. And – um- wait a minute, PATRICK.  How is it that we’re writing together and I don’t even get a mention in your memories … not even a spark?

Email From Patrick

Dear Stephanie: 

Here is my brand-new paragraph!  Read it and weep! 

Patrick

Patrick

When I saw Stephanie, I thought, though a teaser at times, she is fun to be with and travel with. When I saw Erin, I was referring to the Hillsborough house as Erin’s House. When Melody first taught me the notes on the piano is when I started learning lots of songs by ear. When I saw Jennifer I loved her stories and her love of things like dogs, cats, and horses. When I first saw Mom when she picked me up in that Volvo 240 Wagon I had no idea that she would be my mother to be and when I moved in, I loved her very much. When I first saw Dad in his Datsun King Cab pickup I noticed how funny he was and when he and I drove to the dump we had fun listening to Swinging on a Star on CBC and singing songs like I Had a Dog, High Hopes, and Swinging on a Star. When I saw the dogs I loved them so much that I walked them a lot, even when we went camping. I loved them so much I visualized my older self having a dog of my own, which actually happened, but was short lived. When I saw the family I was very excited. I thought “What a very nice, interesting family. I loved the family very much. I would describe this family as a really excellent family that helped me out in so many ways.

Stephanie

Pat, thanks for the mention. I’m glad you had a dog of your own and that we’re – with you – an “excellent family”. I think it’s funny how we grew up in the same house, but remember things differently. Remember how you hated it when your toiletries got rearranged in the bathroom – not lined up – and sometimes mom would turn the toothpaste upside down on you as a joke? I can’t BELIEVE you still think I did it. It wasn’t. Me.  Also, who is your favourite sister? Did you know that one of the first things I remember – ever – is that I thought God helped Father Bill change TV channels because I’d never seen a remote control before?

Patrick

I did not know that Father Bill taught you to use a remote control.  About the above paragraph, I know Mom would never rearrange my toiletries or turn my toothpaste or deodorant upside down.  And neither would Jennifer.  I only know one person who would do this and that would be you.  Besides I have 2 witnesses who heard my toiletries rattling and saw you come out.  These witnesses said yes by wagging their tails, which answers “yes” to any question I asked them. 

Text Exchange:

 Steph: PS who is your favourite sister?

Pat: No favourites when it comes to family or sister.

What is Upper Cape Like After Canada looking like the movie Frozen?

Day 1 saw Stephane, Vic, and me, all going to Moncton in the 2015 Kia Sedona which we used for Quebec City 2015 and staying for lunch En Route to Bouctouche so Stephane could see his family. 

Enjoying the beach.

Later Erin, Christopher, and Oliver, all met Mom and me at Costco, where the Camerons used to take me to browse, watch the TVs play a certain movie, and eat Twist ice cream before I moved into L’Arche. 

They didn’t have much of a DVD or CD selection, but we got groceries and Mom and I looked at TVs as ours upstairs was fading and I liked the LG LED TVs and the Samsung TVs like the one in McKim House, and Erin said she didn’t like the Hi Def TVs because it makes movies look like a BBC show or soap opera. 

We also looked at books and I saw an Eyewitness France book and an Eyewitness Australia book. 

We went home. 

Tonight after supper I watched my DVD of Pitch Perfect, enjoying the music again. 

Day 2 was the day I had been waiting for after 2 Frozen-like blizzard-filled winters and no Upper Cape or Camille’s. 

We love walking the beach when the tide is out.

We packed up the car...and headed out to Upper Cape, leaving our dogs behind.  

 Dad had left early to take his John Deere ride-on mower to mow out a path to the beach and Glen, who was already there with Stephanie and Mo, was mowing. 

Mom and I went in Erin’s red Toyota Rav-4 with Oliver in the car seat, and I enjoyed his company and his excitement and his chattering. 

 We got there and the sight of the cottage and our beach excited me. 

I had brought along, as with every year, my copy of Nop’s Trials, as a tradition which started in 2006 before I lost Molly when I was borrowing Jen’s copy of this particular book, and I read this most of the time while I was here. 

I changed into my bathing suit which went very well with my T-shirt! 

After a lunch of snacks, such as nachos with salsa, crackers and cheese, lots of berries, and lots of Perrier, we headed to the beach for a long-awaited swim in the water. 

I went in and so did Erin and Stephanie, and I enjoyed my swim so much after 2 years I was doing Jean Vanier poses from his pictures on his books.  

After this I went back and relaxed, reading the book while my feet and bathing suit dried. 

Relaxing in the cottage.

As a note, this was also my first Upper Cape visit since I had my BlackBerry Q5. Therefore I used this to take some pictures. 

After hours of relaxation, visits to the water, strolls on the beach, reading Nop’s Trials, and enjoying the cottage we drove to Camille’s and I went with Stephanie and Glen in their new Mini.  

Once we got to Camille’s we waited for the rest of the group. 

Enjoying Camille's with the family.

Then we ordered our traditional summer meals, which in my case was Fish and Chips, and Mom had a Lobster meal, and Erin had Chicken Fingers and Fries, and some had Fried Clams and Fries or just the Clams. 

I brought along a Perrier can as all they served as drinks was Coke and Pepsi pops and water. 

We went home and I went in Dad’s Porsche Macan in which I had gone to Camp Wildwood a couple months ago.  

When we got home I was so tired.  I was like a bicycle because I was “2 Tired” and would have fallen over.  Therefore I went to bed. 

At Camille's!

Day 3 was return-home day. 

I had breakfast again with Erin, Christopher, and Oliver there to have fun with. 

I watched a PVR recording of an episode of Amazing Race Canada set in Halifax and I came up with the idea of L’Arche Saint John being a place where teams would come to do something to collect a clue and I thought in this place I would play a song and the contestants would guess the title of the song and if they guessed it correctly I would hand them their next Amazing Race clue. 

After lunch we went to Chapters to browse at books and I looked at a few travel books and then looked with Erin in the children’s section and I tried looking for, and looking up, Mercer Mayer’s Just For You, my favorite childhood book which when I used to read it had a tape with a song.  But I saw a whole shelf of Robert Munsch stories in big style and little style, like Mortimer, the Paper Bag Princess, Murmel, Murmel, Murmel, Thomas’ Snowsuit, I Have To Go, Pigs, and Mud Puddle, and other Munsch favorites I used to read and listen to as a child.   

Then we went to Shoppers to get a Globe and the Mail, excuse the pun, and I browsed at the movies and I liked one which was a 4-movie collection in which one was Bingo, about a circus Border Collie who saves the life of a boy whose father is a pro football player and the dog and the boy become friends for life, and I wanted this. 

Oliver at the beach.

We went home and I watched another PVR recording of an episode of Amazing Race Canada, here set in Sudbury, Ontario. 

After saying goodbye to Erin, Christopher, and Oliver and kissing Oliver, Mom and I went to the bus station and she bought me a ticket to Saint John and I brought my 12-string guitar, so we checked a suitcase and my guitar. 

We watched the train leave while we awaited the boarding of the bus, which happened within minutes, and later we left and I got home safely. 

For details - check out www.patrickdanielmcgrath.com

Camp Wildwood 2015

    June 11th, 2015: Bus Day

Driving to camp with dad.

    I took the 10:30 bus to Moncton from Saint John, which got in at 12:50. 

    Mom picked me up in the BMW wagon, which had been in Mom’s possession since 2011. 

    Then we went home and had lunch...and then headed to Jennifer’s to see Brennan and Connor and congratulate Brennan on his graduation, and tell him my regrets that despite his efforts to get me tickets to the graduation and see that I get there I wouldn’t make it to the ceremony. 

    Brennan, if you see this Blog, I want to, once again, express my congratulations on the graduation and I am sorry I could not make it to the ceremony and I enjoyed your yearbooks and the jam session with your friends. 

    Then we looked at Brennan’s and Connor’s yearbook from 2015 and it had some great pictures, not only of him and Connor, but of the musical they put on before Christmas, sporting events from Saint John High School and the home games, news flashes about trends, like Top-40 songs, world news, commercialization, and TV and movies. 

    Tonight we decided to celebrate Father’s Day with Dad, a week before the actual day since I would not be in Moncton then, with fish and chips, San Pellegrino, and berries and yogurt.   

    June 12, 2015: Arrival Day

    This morning Mom and I drove to Champlain Place so as I could get my haircut at Cut 2000. 

Construction workers were working on Crystal Palace, which used to be an indoor amusement park, but closed down and was making way for a Bass Pro shop. 

While I got my haircut I had a long chat with the barber about Camp Wildwood and she said she was there before many times. 

Then we went to HMV and Mom bought me the Men in Black collection, which had MIB and MIIB.  (1 and 2) 

On the way home we tried to get Brian a birthday gift of a Cineplex gift card but they were closed. 

    We took a quick stop at a new Moncton store that specialized in outdoor/hunting supplies like guns and outfits, and Mom and I had to steer outta there after a quick browse because of the cruelty in the store, like moose and deer on the wall and statues made out of real bears and wildlife! 

    When Dad got home we packed things like my backpack with books and camp supplies inside, my suitcase with the clothes, my sleeping bag, and my 12-string guitar, all into the back of Mom and Dad’s new car. 

Then we went into the car and headed for Camp Wildwood, and I enjoyed the drive in this new car. 

I was hoping the Mason & Risch upright piano would still be there which I played in the summers of ’95 and ’96. 

Unfortunately, it was gone. 

On a happy note, though, my co-campers were co-workers from METS and one classmate from Riverview High from my grad class, named Carla.  And as an added bonus, 2 people there had a Golden Retriever/Husky mix dog named Max, who stayed with me for most of the weekend. 

I set up the sleeping bag in one of the new refurbished cabins. 

They had the same names, but were in new cabins. 

We played games such as “duck, duck, goose” and musical chairs. 

Then we had Vespers, snack, and campfire with camp songs and songs, and then we went to bed. 

    June 13, 2015: Day 2 

    We woke up to a gourmet breakfast with pancakes and cereal.  Here we sang graces like Johnny Appleseed, a grace in the tune of the Superman theme, and a grace to the tune of the Spiderman theme. 

In the summers of ’95 and ’96 we would sing these graces too. 

When I went to Camp Centennial when I was just a young kid and we had just got the gray Jeep Cherokee and PBS was playing Lamb Chop’s Play Along and kids would, out of nowhere, sing The Song That Doesn’t End from that show, we campers would sing Johnny Apple Seed loudly for lunch and yell “JOHNNY APPLE SEED!” at the top of our lungs.

Then we used Play-Doh to do some artwork.  Then we had a campfire during which we made S’mores, and I had mine minus the chocolate. 

We had lunch together in the lodge. 

Then we had some relaxing time during which I planned my songs for this evening’s talent show and to practice them in the basement where another Mason & Risch piano which was badly out of tune also used to be in ’95 and ’96, but this was also gone. 

Here I knocked around a bunch of ideas, like Mud on the Tires and Find Yourself by Brad Paisley, In Summer from Frozen, Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia, The Hockey Song by the late Stompin’ Tom Connors, Twist and Shout, Brian Wilson, and other songs I had learned since the last time I was here. 

Then we swam in the pool, which was very different from the one pictures of me there in ’95 and ’96, and this pool had basketball nets, so I took part in a game. 

Then after I changed from my bathing suit to the clothes I had on before swimming, the tuck shop opened.  I had Ruffles Sour Cream & Bacon chips. 

After this I went back to the basement of the lodge with my guitar and practiced my songs for the Talent Show tonight. 

After practicing supper came. 

Then the Talent Show came up. 

Here when I came up, I played The Hockey Song for the Stanley Cup Playoffs watchers and fans, and Dancing Queen from Mamma Mia the musical and movie. 

Then we had Vespers. 

Then we had campfire with singing, snack in the lodge, and bedtime.  ​

    June 14th, 2015: Home Day

Relaxing at mom and dad's house.

    Today was Home Day.  We had breakfast with cereal and bagels and yogurt and fruit. 

    Then Praise Craze came and then we played more games like Duck, Duck, Goose, Simon Says, Dance Freeze, and other fun camp games. 

    Then we had lunch. 

    Then we packed up our cabins so when the parents/caretakers came to have supper with us and take us campers home our things would be ready.   

    Then we played more games. 

    Then parents and caretakers came and joined us for supper and dessert. 

    Within minutes Mom and Dad showed up in their new car.  They joined us for supper and dessert...and grabbed my things, packed it in the car...and took me home and then we went to Jen and Brian’s for a time with friends of Brennan’s, who was graduating from Bernice MacNaughton High School, quite a short time after the year I graduated from Riverview High School and then got Molly, during which Brennan was a toddler, making fire truck and train sounds and filling in the blanks for songs and stories. 

    Among the friends were Heath, who was in my grad class from Bessborough in summer ’95, and a few other school friends. 

    We got Brennan and Connor to play guitar while I played for a jam session.  Then I played a song for the guests.  ​

    June 15, 2015: Border Collie Time, The Journey Home 

Border collie bliss.

    The next day Jen’s friend Charlotte showed up with 4 of her Border Collies, and one of them, Bliss, and Ella, really love each other.  They were hilarious together, and Jen, Charlotte, Mom, and I took all of them, Danny, Bliss, Ella, and Charlotte’s other 3 Border Collies, for a walk. 

Back in Thanksgiving Weekend Charlotte lent me a movie called Away to Me, and as any Border Collie lover who has read Nop’s Trials, Nop’s Hope, and Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men, can tell, it’s about sheepherding trials and when I watched it I loved it.  Weeks later she had Jennifer mail it to me. 

Charlotte, if you see this Blog, I would like you to know I am still enjoying that DVD. 

    That night, with a packed lunch which included a chicken wrap, an apple, a banana, Fruit to Go bars, and a San Pellegrino in my backpack, I took the 5:00 bus back to Saint John and when I got home I got out my Riverview High School and Harrison Trimble High School yearbooks and looked at my class photos and photos of me with the guitar and at sporting events. 

Then I had Hampton Bible Camp, Quebec City, some family time including seeing Stephanie, Glen, Erin, Christopher, Oliver, Melody, Matt, Emily, Clare, and Uncle Bill, and Faith and Sharing, all to look forward to! 

Bill, if you see this Blog, I am sorry I cannot make the Treasure Hunt to read the clues and finish the night with guitar playing and music. 

To the rest of my sisters, I look forward to seeing you in the summer months, and I hope I get to swim in Upper Cape and stay in the cottage and/or see it, since I never made it there last summer. 

    Then I sent a story of Dad to Stephanie for the Blog, which appeared on it with a video of me interviewing Dad and singing one of our Dump Songs and Dad giving the advice about Datsun or Nissan, that “hoods fly up.” 

A Story About My Father

When my Mom picked me up in the Volvo 240 Wagon on Adoption Day, later Dad showed up in our 2nd car: a red Datsun Pickup. 

(As a note, like Dad states in the video, NEVER buy a Nissan.  Hoods fly up! )

My Dad and I took frequent drives in that truck to the dump, oftentimes singing the songs I Had a Dog, High Hopes and Swinging on a Star and listening to CBC’s program Swinging on a Star on that truck’s radio. 

Sometimes with my family, as stated in the Adoption Story, we took camping and hotel trips in our 3rd car: a brown Ford Van with tape player (the Volvo and the Datsun had American Graffiti- style radios with no tape players and too early for Bluetooth and i-Pods and i-Pads and i-Phones and MP3 files). 

Now for the Dad phrases.  One was “Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!”  Another one is “I don’t like Nissan cars or Datsun.  Hoods fly up.”   

I am thankful for all the things we did together from the start. Have a wonderful Father's Day, dad! See you soon!

My relationship with Mom

Mom and I go grocery shopping, to basketball and hockey games, on walks with our dogs, sometimes to Toronto by air for the Autism Symposium, school and major theatre musicals (by “major” I mean the Toronto musicals The Lion King and Mamma Mia), sometimes movie theatres, and other fun things. 

She helps me make good choices, like as a child, she helped me with the big fixations by teaching me how to control them with help from teachers and Teachers Assistants.  When I was in school she was present for every choir concert, band concert, coffee house, variety show, and graduation.  When grocery shopping I would help her by going to a certain aisle for a certain item for her and carrying the bags in when we got home.  These days when I go home for a weekend or celebration or summer holiday Mom and I constantly play Take 2 and Scrabble and I school her big time most times! 

When I met Mom the first day she and Erin picked me up to go to their house I thought she was fun to be with, just like with the rest of the family.  Mom means a lot to me because of the things we do and did together and the things she did for me, like work out the odd trip, buy me and help me buy Christmas and birthday gifts without the recipients getting an early peek through the almost-see-through plastic bags, researching L’Arche Saint John so I could move here, taking me to restaurants now and then both home and away, and being present for every school concert, play and graduation, most church concerts while I was in the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Holy Family churches, and most Epiphany plays in Saint John.  

For the Love of Dogs

With Ella

When I started loving dogs

I started loving dogs the moment I was picked up in the Volvo 240 Wagon (to move in with my family).  Mom’s house, AKA “Erin’s House”, had 2 dogs at present: a red Golden Retriever named Katie and a smaller mixed-breed dog named Nicky. 

Why I started loving dogs

Nicky 

When I got to the house the dogs Nicky and Katie came to greet me.  As this picture shows, Nicky spent lots of time with me, and sometimes he slept in the basement room with the piano with me.  On a Sunday drive to Salisbury, New Brunswick, we went to a puppy farm and all sorts of Retrievers and Spaniels gazed at us.  A man led us into the heated basement, and immediately some Retriever puppies of all colors came to greet us and bark and whine  as if to say “Please take me home!”  Our original idea was to JUST LOOK at the puppies…but with the McGraths, there is no such thing as Just Looking at the puppies, because they are irresistible…and so we purchased a puppy…and named him Simon and added him to our pack.  All 3 dogs joined us for our camping trips. 

My most favourite breeds

With Ella

From my adoption day to Grade 8, my favorite breed was, in fact, the Golden Retriever, and I used to watch PBS’ Lamb Chop’s Play Along and there was a live Golden Retriever that looked exactly like Simon.  For Christmas in Grade 7 I got the VHS Homeward Bound which had an old Retriever that looked like Katie, who had passed away shortly after we had gotten Simon.  After I left Bessborough School after Grade 8 Jennifer picked up our first Border Collie, a male tri-color, named Dillon, who spent most of the summer with me in the basement and in our cottage while I was playing the guitar I had gotten the previous Christmas.  Shortly before Easter I pulled out an old dog book and looked at the Border Collie and read the page’s facts.  For Easter we got the VHS Babe, and on seeing Fly and Rex and the puppies in the movie, the Border Collie, in fact, bumped the Retriever out of my favorite breed file and entered the #1 breed spot up to the time I writing this Blog and always will be.  The fall after graduation I got my own Border Collie, a female who looked like Fly, named Molly, for 6 years.  Unfortunately, before moving to Saint John, I lost her at 6 years to a tumor right on her nose, and I was no Elsa, because I thought I could never Let it Go.   But before moving I got another Border Collie, this time named Ella. 

My least favourite breed

My least favorite breed is, in fact, the Pug, because they look like they chase parked cars with a flat nose, and they cause traffic jams.  Our neighbors on Alexander Avenue had, in fact, a Retriever named Toby who was Simon’s litter mate, and a couple pugs, one named Kirby and one named Huey.  Kirby always spent most of his/her time on Alexander Avenue…which slowed down our road trips to the grocery store, haircuts, movies, CD/Tape stores, my piano lessons, school fall fairs, school science fairs, school talent shows, piano recitals, guitar lessons, school choir and band concerts, church, basketball games, and local plays/musicals. 

A FROZEN-TONGUE-ON-METAL-FLAGPOLE-FREE CHRISTMAS STORY

Editor's note: 'Tis the season to be joyful. Patrick has revived this 2005 holiday essay for your reading pleasure. Stay tuned for updates on his upcoming NYC trip in the weeks to come.

My first Christmas with the McGrath family, 1987, was merrier than the last one I had with my foster mother.  It is more fun spending Christmas with a real family than with a foster family as you will live with them forever.  Every Christmas season we would sing Christmas carols, listen to Christmas carols, decorate the tree, watch movies like A Christmas Story, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Santa Clause, Elf, Santa Claus: The Movie, and Muppet favorites like The Muppet Christmas Carol and Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, get out the Christmas lights, go for nighttime drives to see other houses’ lights, lighted snowmen, lighted Santa Clauses, “Merry Christmas” signs, and lighted reindeer, read stories like The Night Before Christmas and Dr. Seuss’ How The Grinch Stole Christmas every Christmas Eve, have French toast every Christmas morning, open our stockings, and then open the big presents, and then call everyone we know who sends us the presents from far off places and thanking them for the Christmas gifts.  Every Christmas night we would open crackers, wear the crowns that came in the crackers, read the jokes and trivia questions which also came in the crackers, and then we would have our traditional: Turkey with dressing and cranberry “sarce,” potatoes, turnip, carrots, and for the final touch, we would have our dessert.  Some would have plum pudding while others had Mom’s Special Apple Pie with ice cream.  My top 4 Christmases were 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001.  2001:  This Christmas saw me get a grand total of 10 CDs from Stephanie, a Border Collie calendar, the movie Cats and Dogs with Jeff Goldblum and the voices of Tobey McGuire and Michael Clarke Duncan, and a couple of gift certificates.  2002:  I was working at Community College that year, plus we had just gotten a new Land Rover Discovery and on Christmas Eve on the way between church and Jennifer’s we listened to Cowboy Christmas on 96.9 and I recognized one of the songs because it had played in my office at Community College. 

Jennifer gave me a present that said “To Patrick from Tessa.”  Tessa was the name of Jennifer’s Collie whom she had gotten two springs ago.  The present was a framed picture of the lovely Collie by our back door with the others looking in.  Stephanie got me a gift certificate.  Christmas of 2003 saw me get a Toshiba 19” TV/VCR Combo as my second TV as I was living both on Alexander Avenue with my family and with a younger couple on Twin Oaks Drive and I didn’t want to take my little one back and forth each weekend and I wanted to watch my own at home while Dad would watch golf or Mom and Dad would watch 24.  We had cinnamon French toast with syrup as a special breakfast.  Jennifer gave me a picture of Dillon, her Border Collie, having fun on the marshlands near her house.  Stephanie gave me the movie Finding Nemo.  Mom and Dad got me a MuchDance CD.  Erin got me a hockey team claw and the people I lived with gave me a shirt with the hockey team logo.  Christmas of 2004 saw me get a karaoke machine and two karaoke CDs from Stephanie, Erin and Kyle, a ghetto blaster from Mom, a hockey team horn to blow whenever the team scored a goal, and a hockey team poster with the game schedule.  Once again, it began with Erin’s cinnamon French Toast.  My best gift in 1995 was my first Timex digital watch.  My best gift in 1996 was my keyboard.  My best gift in 1997 was my NOW! 2 CD.  My best gift in 1998 was a book called Floss, a story about a Border Collie who has to sacrifice play with children to start working on a farm.  My best gifts in 1999 was a Timex Ironman watch and the soundtrack to the musical Mame.  My best gift in 2000 was my first TV.  I did not even try sticking my tongue to a metal flagpole like in A Christmas Story, asking for “a Red Ryder Carbine Action 200-Shot Range Model Air Rifle”, or making a lightning-fast slide down the hill like in Christmas Vacation.  I didn’t even try “putting a light of candle in anybody’s hair,” like in Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree.  Like the song says, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!”  

An Absolutely Wonderful Family Time!

I had gotten back from vacation and was almost back in the swing of things.  But this Thursday, supposedly to Monday, I was to spend time with Mom and family.  So I bought a round trip to Moncton and took the Maritime Bus system to Moncton.  Mom picked me up and told me (my brother-in-law) Matt and (niece) Clare were there and (sister) Melody was to fly into town that same night.  We got home and I greeted everyone there, including our dogs Liza, Lupin, Ella, and Sprocket. 

Topping up Clare's juice.

I was told Sprocket had developed similar health issues Emma had had before she passed away of the cancer tumor. 

I was also told that after some time off the air, famous TV dog trainer Cesar Milan started a new show called Cesar 911 and I watched part of an episode.  Back in the day the National Geographic Channel showed him on a show called The Dog Whisperer.  There he worked with famous people, like John Grogan the genius behind Marley & Me, a book which became, in my description, The Titanic of Dog Movies, starring Owen Wilson and Friends’ Jennifer Aniston, and the late Ed McMahon.  And nonstop during my visits to Moncton I would watch that show on that channel and whenever Lupin or Mo barks wildly at me or some stranger I do Cesar’s famous “Sssss” or “Shhhhh” sound.  I can also impersonate his accent. 

(Matt’s parents) Chris and Milton showed up and we had lunch and Chris had made her family-famous Orange Salad which I enjoyed with lunch, AND supper later that night.  Mom, Clare, Matt and I went to the Moncton International Airport to pick up Melody and (niece) Emily and Chris and Milton met us there. 

Within just under an hour the plane landed and within minutes Melody and Emily showed up. 

As I do when a new assistant from another town or country comes to L’Arche by plane, I helped Melody with the bags by carrying them to the car and said to them, like I say to anyone moving into L’Arche Saint John from another town or country, “Welcome to New Brunswick!”   

We got home and had supper where Jen, Brian, Brennan and Connor joined us.  They had just gotten new guitars: Les Paul guitars, one blue, one burgundy, one a Gibson, and one an Epiphone. 

We even Face Timed Erin, Christopher, and Oliver. 

The next day we were informed that now Dad had an issue with one of his eyes, so Mom and Melody rushed him to the hospital, and they said he had to be rushed to a Halifax hospital, the only place with a specialist who would do surgery for Dad’s eye condition. 

Later Stephanie and Glen showed up with Mo.  It looked like, though I bought a round trip ticket that would send me back on the 12:30 bus back on Monday, I would have to go back early on Sunday.  But Stephanie and Glen and I were to have a great time. 

Stephanie, Glen, and I went to the Superstore to do some grocery shopping, which was an activity I loved to do all my life, so I helped find the food we needed for the meal, which is why sometimes when an assistant has to go to Sobeys I ask to come along to help.  We got a few pizzas, some sparkling drink, and vegetables with ranch dip in the middle, and some dessert.  Kelly and her children showed up and we exchanged gifts as their birthdays were a few days ago. 

We played Desert Island Discs too.  For my song selection I chose Gangnam Style as if I were on a desert island I would need music to exercise to, as that plays at my Zumba classes. 

Jennifer had brought up a movie called Away to Me.  As any Border collie lover can tell by the title, it’s about sheepdog trials in the States.  This DVD shows an entire tournament with documentaries on each competitor, each dog and where each team is from and what they do when they are not trialing.  It talks about terms I read about in Nop’s Trials and Nop’s Hope. 

I watched it and I loved it so much that Jen said she would watch it and then mail it to me at McKim House to keep!  This would mean I would have Babe, Babe 2, 5 Mist Sheepdog Tales DVDs AND an entire DVD of sheepdog trials. 

The next day Jennifer, Brian, Brennan, Connor, Glen, Stephanie, Matt, Emily, Clare, and I all went to Champlain Place and Glen bought me the DVD set Problem Child 1 and 2.  Since I changed from the Citizen 19” TV/VCR Combo to the Toshiba 19” LED TV, I had missed Problem Child as I only had that on VHS.  I first saw the movie while I was in my second year in Cubs.  Now I had both.  After the purchases we went to Dairy Queen and had our treats there!  I had the Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard, sharing some of the ice cream with Stephanie after all the great things she and Glen and the family had done together with me.  

Glen tries to steal Clare's Dairy Queen ice cream.

Then we went to Chapters Crystal Palace and I looked at the travel books and local books while the others looked at other kinds of books.  Then we went home, and Emily, Clare, and I watched Problem Child 1 together.  That night the family gathered together and used NetFlix and watched Honey, I Shrunk the Kids together, sharing popcorn together. 

The next day, as planned, Stephanie, Matt, and I, went in Dad’s Toyota Tacoma and headed to the Moncton Bus Terminal, also the VIA Train Station.  I asked if we could change the return ticket to this day instead of Monday, but I was told it that bus was sold out!  It was the first time I heard that with either of the bus services I used.  So we got a ticket that guaranteed me a seat on the 5:00 bus that night.  Stephanie bought a return ticket from Moncton to Bathurst as she had a business trip there. 

Then we went to the Pump House Brewery to have lunch.  It was my first time there, so I had the fish and chips with a Perrier.  I shared some of my fries with Stephanie like I had done with the ice cream from my Blizzard at Champlain Place Dairy Queen. 

Then we dropped Stephanie off at the VIA/Maritime Bus Station. 

Then we went home and within minutes Mom Dad and Melody came home and I told them I was praying everyday for Dad to get better, which I was and still am. 

Later Mom and I got in the car and left after saying goodbye to Melody, Matt, Emily, Clare, Jennifer, Brian, Brennan, Connor, Danny, Sprocket, Ella, Liza, and Lupin. 

We got to the Terminal, and within minutes my bus boarded, and within minutes the bus took off and I texted Stephanie and all my sisters as I had promised I would, and I texted them once I got home and emailed Mom, like I promised.