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Thursday, October 23, 2008 – Jeff and I took the day off from work to spend with my parents.  Unfortunately, we had to stay close to home because we were getting the floor installed in our basement.  Jeff took my mom out for a bit.  They tried to find a new drain for our basement floor and got an oil change for the Maxima.  Dad and I replaced the upstairs toilet.  It had begun leaking a couple of weeks earlier and we decided that this was just the incentive we needed to get rid of the water sucking 14L/flush beast and replace it with a new 6L/flush efficient toilet.  It took us a bit of time but we were successful.  When Mom and Jeff got home, we ate a lunch of .  After our meal, Mom, Dad and I went to The Dollar Store, got an oil change on the VW Golf, and found some perms for Marnie at a Beauty Supply store.  When we returned home, we inspected the installation of the floor in the basement.  It was perfect!  We celebrated with a Brazilian Rodizio meal at Boa Nova.  Eight kinds of meat and unlimited salad.  Yummy!

Friday, October 24, 2008 – Jeff and I had to work.  Dad went to London to visit his brother Steve again.  Mom watched movies all day long.  When I got home from work, we made pizza for dinner.  Jeff and I received our first draft of our home study from Angela and ran through a review so we could send off an updated version to Angela.  We’re almost there!  We have to do a few more Children’s Aid Service checks for Hamilton and Barry.  When we sent in our original paperwork, we forgot a couple of locations – oops!

Saturday, October 25, 2008 – Jeff went to Aikido.  I took Dad to the Kitchener Farmers Market.  We stopped off home and dropped off our purchases before heading to the St. Jacob’s Farmers Market.  We picked up a couple of things and watched a guy refill the ATM while we had our snack.  My dad offered to protect the money with his glass of freshly squeezed juice – something about bopping on the head…  We picked up Mom and went to the Cambridge Mall to see the stores and the indoor ice rink.  We got Dad a new leather jacket for his birthday.  Very cool.  When Jeff got out of his Aikido seminar, we went to Ben Than for a Thai dinner.  The food was delicious even though it took a while for Dad to get his meal.  On our way home, we stopped at Sobeys and picked up a couple of items (jam, rubbing alcohol – you know the weird assortment of stuff you never remember to get!)

Sunday, October 26, 2008 – Jeff and I went to the Adoption Resource Exchange.  We viewed a number of profiles for children and met some fantastic social workers.  When we returned, Dad had painted the room at the bottom of the stairs in the basement.  We had leftovers for dinner – Thai, Mexican taquito roll ups, roasted potatoes, pork tenderloin, and squash – quite a combination!

Monday, October 27, 2008 – Jeff and I went to work.  Dad fixed the latch on our garbage can.  Dad did a bit of patch work in the basement – filling the groves in our panelling so we can paint it and make it look like the rest of the wall.  After work, Jeff had Aikido.  Mom, Dad, and I went to Denise’s for dinner.  We had butternut squash soup and egg salad/bacon and grilled cheese sandwiches with apple crisp for dessert.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 – I took the day off work.  Dad and I finished painting the basement.  All walls have a first coat – Huzzah!  At lunch time, we went to Williams Coffee Pub then proceded to the Fairway Mall.  Mom found some rose perfume for Dot.  After leaving the mall, we hit Pickards Peanuts where we stocked up on brittle and nuts.  We returned home and relaxed for a bit.  We decided to have Chinese food for our last dinner together at the Kings Buffet.  Jeff was at Aikido and could not join us. 

Wednesday, October 29, 2008 – Mom and Dad flew home.  Two weeks just seemed to fly by!  We had a great visit and look forward to our next one.

My parents are visiting for two weeks.  They arrived last Wednesday evening (October 15th).  Today marks the end of their first week and the beginning of week two.

We’ve been very busy since they’ve arrived.  We have been trying to get our basement renovated so we have a second bathroom when we have visitors.  Unfortunately, our contractor has been juggling a few jobs and we are behind schedule.  We are right in the middle of our construction work and we will require inventive time management to ensure we maximize our time with family.

Wednesday, October 15th – Arrival.  Drove home from the airport.  Quick chat and a snack and off to bed.

Thursday, October 16th – I took the day off from work.  We went to St. Jacobs’s market.  Got some gifts for family, fruit/veggies/honey/meat, and the famous apple fritters.  When Jeff got off work, we went to The Mandarin for a buffet dinner.  Did you know the Mandarin has Crème Brule as a dessert on the buffet?  Yummy!

Friday, October 17th – Both Jeff and I had to work.  Mom had a quiet day at home.  Dad went to London to visit his brother Steve.  For dinner, we had Jeff’s mom’s famous spaghetti sauce with the breaded pork tenderloin that we picked up at the market.  I’m going to gain ten pounds before this visit is over!

Saturday, October 18th – Jeff went to Aikido.  Dad and I went to Home Hardware to get painting supplies.  When Jeff got home he joined our painting effort and we got a coat of primer on all four rooms in the basement.  Went to downtown Kitchener to see the Oktoberfest booths.  Purchased more gifts for family.  Viewed old cars at the local car show.  Went to Red Lobster for dinner.  When we got home, we painted the ceilings in three rooms and painted the walls and ceiling in the bathroom.  Whew!  Busy day but very productive.

Sunday, October 19th – I ran in my first 5 km race, the Oktoberfest Fun Run.  My time was 42:50.  Now I have a personal best to beat.  Mom, Dad, and Jeff were waiting at the finish line.  After a quick shower, we headed to Niagara Falls to visit Table Rock before spending the afternoon and evening with Jeff’s family.  Nan, Pop, Jeff Sr., Judy, Dave, Nigel, Emily, Dad, Mom, Jeff, and I, enjoyed a huge turkey dinner.

Monday, October 20th – Both Jeff and I went to work again.  Dad went to London to visit his brother Carl.  Dad and Carl went out on the milk run all day long.  Mom and I had jumbo shrimp for dinner then started work on a mountain of laundry.  Jeff ate a few shrimp when he got home from Aikido.  We saved a few for Dad who did not get home until much later.

Tuesday, October 21st – We went to Paris to the Mary Maxim store.  What a great place!  Lots of cool projects and gifts.  We had lunch at a small family restaurant just across the street from Mary Maxim.  We decided to hit Costco on our way home.  Mom and Dad found a few unique items to take home.  I got a head start on my Christmas shopping.  We had an appetizer dinner of sliced meat, cheese, and apples.  Dad realized to his surprise that he likes jumbo shrimp.  Jeff was at Aikido again.  He’s practicing for his upcoming test.  We crossed paths as I left for tap class but returned in time to visit a bit before bed.

Wednesday, October 22nd – 3 year wedding anniversary!  Jeff and I had to work.  Mom and Dad stayed home for the day.  Dad fixed the patching job done on our front door when we had a new handle installed last year.  We made scallops and fresh veggies for dinner.  Jeff was at Aikido again so we’ll have an anniversary dinner out on Thursday night instead.  After organizing some photos for print and delivery to PEI we hit the sheets.

More to come…