Saturday 15 February 2020

Neither Of Us Can Remember

At dinner last night, Jason and I were trying to remember the different restaurants that we had been to on Valentine's Days of years past. We knew we had visited Maple Leaf Tavern before, but I knew it hadn't been last year - we went again this year. Last year, 2019, I was in the middle of renovating the cafe and getting it ready to open in March. We actually ran a Valentine's Day event out in front of the shop to create a bit of buzz. So, our previous trip to the Tavern must have been in 2018, but I am not even sure about that. Especially because on Always Standing, I didn't mention the dinner. I just posted a photo from our wedding reception. And I should have mentioned that dinner because it was where I tried Wagyu beef for the first time - so good.

It is hard to keep the dinners straight because we also tend to go to nice/fancy restaurants on our anniversary so places and years get even more muddled. I don't seem to post about our dining experiences very much. In fact, one of the more memorable times was our very first Valentine's Day when Jason took me to La Maquette (previously a fine dining restaurant, now an event venue) and I chose the occasion to tell him that I wanted to postpone moving in together until the Fall of that year (2013). My blog post the following day talk how wonderful our day had been, with no mention of the difficult discussion or dinner location. 

I have done some fun blog post to mark the occasion:
- A poem from Facebook in 2014
- Photo collage the next year, 2015
- A quiz in 2017 with Jason and my answers the following days

It wasn't until I was looking back at various years in Always Standing to write this post that I remembered it was on Valentine's Day 2016 that we made our wedding rings! For lunch we went to a cafe near the jewelry studio on Queen West but I can't remember what we did for dinner. So many wonderful meals lost in our minds. I wonder if it makes sense to better document them somehow?

Friday 14 February 2020

Love Is Strong, Memories Are Fading

So happy to wake up this morning, and all mornings, beside Jason. He is truly one of the greatest things in my life and sharing time (and a house) with him is so much fun! I love him in ways that I don't even have words to describe.

We are off to enjoy a fancy Valentine's dinner together this evening. And, as he reminds me, it will be our seventh Valentine's Day as a couple. I am terrible at remembering dates or keeping track of time, every time I get this type of information (usually from Jason) I am shocked at how long we have been together. The year 2010 is burned into my brain as the year that I moved to Toronto, and it feels like I lived here for a long time before meeting Jason, but it was only a couple of years later - in the summer of 2012. This means we have been together for almost eight years!

And in September of this year it will be our fourth wedding anniversary! I really need to remember these things. Here are some key relationship dates...

July 12, 2012 - Met Jason for the first time, at a Starbucks. I have this date noted in my planner each year and I try to remember and acknowledge it.

August 9, 2012 - He kissed me for the first time, on a streetcar. While we were dating we used this as our anniversary.

October, 2013 - We moved in together (Rrunuv Bayit.)

May 8-10, 2015 - We got engaged. Yes, it took a full weekend.

May, 2016 - We moved into our house (Casa Verde.) Though we bought it on Christmas Eve in 2015, and then we signed our mortgage papers on February 25 and the closing date was March 1, 2016. The move in was delayed to allow for a couple of months of renovations.

September 24, 2016 - We got married. This also took a full weekend, but for anniversary purposes we count the Saturday date as the main one. I have this marked in my planner too, so that I remember each year. Though I purposely planned for it to be on the 24th to help me remember (liked my birthday.)

Oh, and Jason's birthday is November 29, this is in my planner too since I get it confused all the time. (My brother was born the day after and my dad died two days before. The end of November is a busy time for trying to remember things and keeping dates straight.)

Wednesday 12 February 2020

Go Vote For Kaylee

Steph and Dave have backed a game on Kickstarter, this is something that they do quite regularly, Jason too though he normally sticks to video/computer games. This one looks like it is going to be a cool Dungeons and Dragons style table top game, featuring animals/pets.

The game company is running a contest on Facebook for people's pets. Steph and Dave have submitted Kaylee and are hoping she will get picked to be featured in the final game art. Please vote for her, they are picking one dog and one cat based on the number of 'likes' that a comment on the post gets.

GO TO THE POST HERE, scroll down until you see Steph's comment about Kaylee, and her adorable puppy picture - in a basket! Then click like, or love. I don't know when the contest is over so you should go do it now!

It is fun to scroll through and see everyone's pet submissions, I also clicked on a cat that I thought was cute and fluffy since that isn't Kaylee's competition. Thanks for your help, let's make Steph's dog boardgame famous!