The Boy is Back in Town

So, now that I've returned from my little jaunt, I share the details with the little secret that I was privy to this past weekend. My stepmother had turned 50 about ten months ago. My father, in imitable male style, did not make a big deal of this. This, of course, was after my stepmother had thrown him a massive surprise party (which included the presence of his children, who had to fly halfway across the country to get there) for his 60th birthday party. Needless to say, she wasn't very impressed by this.

Thus, Dad began planning Operation Better Late Than Never. This involved throwing a surprise party for Cheryl, which my sisters and I would fly out for.

This past Thursday, Andrea and I hopped into Mercules, where we sped to Toronto to catch our flight out west. Dad had been kind enough to arrange for our accommodation at the Banff Park Lodge, where we were to remain out of sight (okay, perhaps it was more about having a vacation...) until the night of the big event.

We didn't get to do any skiing, unfortunately. But we did get a chance to tour around Banff, do a bit of shopping, and generally relax in the heart of the Rockies. Oh yes, and eat lots of steak. Did I mention that? Because I think I had steak for about 5 of the 7 meals that we had during the trip, and Andrea wasn't far behind. I also had the chance to sample the Port Tasting menu at the Banff Springs Hotel. I don't know if I'd be willing to spend $150 for a bottle of 40 year old port, but it is pretty damned tasty, that much I can say.

We came back to Calgary on the Saturday. We stopped in at my eldest sister's place, and had a visit with her, my brother-in-law, and my darling niece. She's getting huge. She still isn't sleeping that much, but she's certainly energetic. She's actually been crawling so much that she managed to get blisters on her toes.

That visit was followed up, of course, with a trip to the infamous Cattle Baron with my good friend Sean. We thought that we would have a light meal, by ordering the prime rib sandwhich. Yeah, it was about a 12 oz. slab of prime rib, loosely draped over a piece of garlic bread. Delicious, but not exactly the lightest option.

Then, we napped the naps of nappers who've consumed about 3 lbs of red meat over the past 2 days.

I have to say, I think we really surprised my step-mother. She'd been told that she was meeting some friends for dinner. Meanwhile, all of us (including family and friends that had flown down from Okalahoma) were waiting to surprise her. When she arrived, it took about ten seconds for things to sink in. She walked into the room, and looked at us. We looked at her. She looked at us. We looked at her. Finally, someone yelled "Surprise!"

The dinner was absolutely fantastic. The restaurant was called Rouge, and they really went all out. It was a 6 or 7 course tasting menu, and the meal itself probably lasted close to 3.5 hours.

I was fortunate enough to be sitting across from one of my father's co-workers, who happened to share my fondness for automobiles, scotch and cigars. And yes, he was also probably about 30 years old than me. Old man, indeed.

Then, we flew home the next day. The in-flight movie was "Sky High". It's a Disney film about a superhero high school. It sounds really bad, but it happened to feature such comedic greats as Bruce Campbell, Kevin McDonald, and Dave Foley. I really recommend it, should it come out on video at some point in the future. I haven't had so much fun with an airline movie since Nahem and I watched "13 Going on 30" on our way back from Costa Rica.

Still no word on the job situation, but I'm enjoying having a day to rest and relax before I go back to my routine. It's back to the job tomorrow, likely followed by a trip to the gym and perhaps some wings, if people are around. Call me, or I'll call you... you know the drill.