Moments D701: Bleeding hearts

That was my surprise when I arrived home after dropping EQ off at the airport.

Can you see where this love heart is?  Yes, that's right.  On a piece of toilet paper, in the toilet bowl. Yes, that's right, you read correctly. In the toilet bowl.

How incredibly amusing.  How incredibly sweet for EQ to leave an ensured laugh and smile behind as he travels for the next 3+ weeks.

Moments already missing your love even though he's only just boarded the plane.

Moments appreciating your love's surprise love note.

Moments D698: Helium Songs

This evening EQ & I spent the evening with Archie and Comic Guy.  It was a joint birthday celebration, so EQ and I showed up with birthday goodies!

An 11 year old Cabernet Merlot.

A birthday bag of odd gifts for the birthday boy:  Some tattoos (I wonder where they ended up!), a couple of random dollar store games and two bottles of the Walter caesar mix (mild & spicy).  What can I say, he and I are huge caesar fans and I when I saw the mix, I couldn't resist picking him up a couple of bottles of try it out!  (Amusingly, when we arrived he made us caesars....mixed with the new Walter caesar mix.  I had a fit of giggles when I realized!)

Specialty chocolates all the way from New York.

AND a bunch of helium balloons.

And this is where today's moment was born.

On the way over to Archie & Comic Guy's house, EQ commented that it would be fun to inhale the helium later on in the evening.  I teasingly reprimanded him - these weren't his balloons, they were for the birthday boy!  Besides, wasn't that something that kids do?

Fast forward to post dinner.  We are all sitting around enjoying our conversation and Archie walks over to two pairs of scissors:  one for me and one for EQ.  I look at him quizzically.  What on earth?  With a devilish smile, Archie explains that we're going to inhale the helium.

As you can imagine, I rolled my eyes as EQ burst into laughter.  After being asked "when did you get old"?, we all had a balloon in hand ready to inhale, sing and repeat around the room.

I can't lie.  It was funny.  It was hilarious in fact. EQ even caught some of it on video.

So much for being mature, but it sure did feel good to play along.

SHAZAM!

Moments enjoying your friends and being silly.

Moments understanding you don't always have to be proper.

Moments D691: Birthday Cake on the Beach

Boo!  Today was our last day in Jamaica.  That's always a sad day, but I was determined to soak up all the last rays of Jamaica before heading home to a city that had just experienced a snow storm.  Yes.  A snow storm mid-March.  Oh my.  Yes, I was definitely determined to soak up as much sun as possible in the last moments in Jamaica.

And that's exactly what most of the family did.  We checked out of the resort, found ourselves some lounge chairs on the beach and watched the incoming flow of guests.  There were many new untanned bodies on the beach today.  We looked around knowingly at one another: if they weren't careful, they'd burn today.  It was a windy, sunny, cooler day.  A perfect day to burn!

One of the things that we needed to deal with, upon check out, was an entire birthday cake that arrived a day late.  Instead of letting it go to waste, EQ and I brought it down to the beach, with a knife, napkins (for impromptu plates) and forks for all.  And there, on the beach, we cut up the cake and shared it out with the family.  With a few pieces leftover, we offered some of the resort staff the remaining pieces of cake.  What a world of joy that the cake brought to those that saw walking through the resort with the cake, cutting up the cake and of course sharing it around!

A fun way to spend the last moments in the sun, eating birthday cake on the beach.

Moments being silly, eating cake on the beach,  in the sun!

Moments enjoying the last hours in Jamaica.

Moments D686: Waterslide Fun

We were up early, but not too early.  After a lazy breakfast, we decided that today was a beach day.

Snorkelling, drinks, a walk along the beach, swimming, some lounging, (more drinks) and then....later in the day, my cousin mentioned how much fun the waterslide was.

Um....pardon?  The waterslide?  You mean the "big kids" can play on it?

OOOOOH yeah!

And so we did.  

My first ride down the slide was very slow.  Boring.  Disappointing.  

Boo!

But, not one to give up, I decided to give it another try.  This time, with some coaching from EQ on how to keep my butt from slowing me down, I managed to fly down the slide and into the pool below.  

Weeeeeeeeee!

Yes. Now that's more like it!

After three or four more trips up and back down again, it was dinner time.  What a fun way to end the day!

Moments enjoying the silliness of a waterslide.

Moments realizing you really are a big kid!

Moments D669: Monkey Notes

Tonight after work I headed to Newmarket to have a girls' night with my BFF.  It's been far too long since we've had such an opportunity.  We had a delightful time with "imported" Chino Locos, wine and delightful conversations. (Yes, that's right, I brought dinner with me from Toronto to Newmarket.  And yes, the burritos were still warm when I arrived at BFF's!)

But the best moment of the evening was when I remembered that I had something for BFF.  I dug it out of my purse and gave it to her.  She laughed and laughed.  And I smiled.  It was that perfect moment of knowing you've brightened someone's day a wee bit more than they had expected.  Bangarang!

It wasn't anything big, but it was meaningful:

It's a note pad with monkeys as a theme.  I know you are wondering why this might have brought such smiles.  I can't really share the "inside-scoop" to that, but let's leave it as this:  monkeys are an "us" thing and they are meaningful to us.  I simpley couldn't not pick up the pads when I saw them while out shopping a few weeks back.  One for BFF and one for me.

Why two?  Well, because now every time I need a scrap piece of paper for one thing or another, I'll have a laugh.   And so will my BFF when she goes to do the same.  A gift that will keep on giving, to us both over the days to come.

Moments finding something simple and yet special.

Moments sharing the smile for many "pages" to come.

Moments D666: Talking toilet paper

Today I dropped EQ off at the airport - he's headed back to California.  A sad moment to be sure for I don't know when next I'll feel his arms around me.  Time will pass quickly (as it seems to these days), but that moment of saying "see you later love" is never an easy one.

I arrive home to quiet.  After 72 days together, we were now apart again.  It was eerie.

And then I walked into the bathroom and broke out into a round of giggles.  This is what I found:

Even while he was in the middle of his flight to California, the man knows how to share a smile with me.

Apparently the cats decided to help out too by unravelling the toilet paper for me.  I found it just like this!

Can't read it?  That's okay, here's what it says:

Of course, I had to Google Rumi 32.

What a romantic.  Love that man.  Love that he left this surprise (amoung others) for me to find tonight.  It helped with the shift in energy 'round here.

Moments enjoying silliness.

Moments realizing your toilet paper is talking to you!

Moments D463: Goggled Cyclist

This morning on my way to work I saw the most amusing sight.  It was, by far, the highlight of my day in that it offered me an unexpected giggle that lasted a few blocks of my commute.

Before I describe this scene, please keep in mind that it was about 18 degrees out.  Cool for a mid-summer's day, but still balmy and getting warmer as the sun began to share its morning warmth.

The gentleman was older - I would guess late 50's into his 60's.  He was wearing blue shorts (shorter than they should have been too!) and on his torso he wore a long sleeved wind-breaker looking coat. Now, I wouldn't have thought anything of it until I saw the rest of his outfit.  The rest of his outfit, well, it struck me and I had to take a second glance.  Now, the coat looked a lot more like a light ski jacket.  Who wears a ski jacket in the middle of summer, even if it is a wee bit cooler out than normal?

Why did I have a double-take?  This gentleman had a pair of ski goggles on with a toque!!   Big, bold and orange lenses just below a big blue toque.

So toque, goggles, a ski jacket and shorts on the bike.

Very amusing.  I giggled for at least two blocks as I passed him.

Thank you mister Goggled Cyclist for making me smile first thing this morning.

Moments of surprise.

Moments of silliness.

Moments D417: Lost car in the parking garage

Ever had one of those days where the clock seemed to be on FAST? That was today. The day flew by and the evening went just as quickly. Before I knew it, I was late to leave my place to head to Pearson! My friend’s plane, of course, was scheduled to land early!

Fortunately, I managed to get to Pearson just after his plane landed. I parked and fast walked to the arrivals waiting area. And yes, I noted where my car was, but apparently not well enough!

After our reunion in arrivals, we walked back to the parking garage. Deep in conversation, we walked right past the aisle where my car was and before I knew it I was completely turned around! It was embarrassing, and it was somewhat humerous. A couple of aisles and moments of laughter later we gave up and started to use my fob for the car alarm. That didn’t really help since we were facing the wrong direction! Laughter ensued, but shortly thereafter, we found the car. Right where I left it. And I noted how we had just walked all the way around the aisle that it was in.

It was an amusing moment of my day and it broke a lot of the day’s tension. It’s funny how something so silly can do that.

Moments of “aha!”

Moments of laughter & silliness.

Moments D387: Puddle Jumping

Today I was fortunate to have a couple of great moments. From an amusing photo of my Dad up and walking today in the hospital, to watching two friends (strangers to me) literally run into one another on the street and watching the laughter that ensued. Many moments where I paused and smiled or contemplated. A bright day of light.

But the one moment I want to focus on happened as I was walking to class tonight. It became significant for me for I had thought of doing the same. Instead, I chose not to for fear of “looking silly”. (This is not normally something I worry about, but today I didn’t want to stand out.)

On campus there is a man-made shallow pond. In summers past, it’s been filled with water. It is still early in the season and it remains mostly empty, minus a few puddles of collected rain at its edges. Walking through the “pond” when it is empty is popular as it is a faster path than walking around to get from one building to another.

As I began my crossing I deviated from the shortest path because of a big puddle. I walked around it, even though I thought about jumping over it, or {gasp} through it. And then, as I neared the other side of the pond, a student walking in the opposite direction did what I could not: he jumped the puddle. In fact, he jumped to a dry spot surrounded by water and then hopped from there over the rest of the puddle. I could help but smile and nod at him. I think I even giggled to myself as I finished up my walk to class.

Puddle jumping. Definitely underrated.

On my way back to the car after class, I jumped that dang puddle! OF COURSE I did. I don’t see a sign like that and not accept it!

And then I smiled all the way back to the parking garage.

Moments of being grounded.

Moments of letting loose!

Moments D378: Water gun fight

Today was another glorious spring day. Warm and sunny. I even managed to get out of the office today for lunch and to enjoy some of that gloriousness!

But today’s moment is a silly one. A moment that was quick to bring a smile to my face and many childhood memories flooding back. It happened on my way to the dentist this evening - a route I don’t normally take after work.

It was just past rush hour which means traffic wasn’t at a standstill and the moment was fleeting. It happened very quickly and I realize now as I share my words, that it might have been missed completely had I not been paying attention.

As I approached Riverdale I could see two boys running around in their front yard. As I came closer, they had water guns in hand and they were yelling and laughing and running around. It was incredibly fun to watch. And, as I passed by, that moment flooded me with memories of my own brother and I playing with water guns in the yard. The laughter, the running, getting soaked because eventually one of us would go and get the hose. Be damned the little toy gun!

I love those moments.

Moments to enjoy other’s joy.

Moments reminding you of your own.