Why I love living here and also summer. Why I love summer I mean, not just summer as a topic.

This weekend was the best weekend I've had since I moved here.  Not that I've had any really bad weekends and not even that this weekend had so many fantastic things happen, just that this is the first weekend were I actually did things.  With people.  For the whole weekend.  I really felt like I belonged here and not that I was just visiting.

Let me preface by saying I had a lot of friends where I used to live.  And I'm not trying to brag(much)but I had a lot going on in my life and a lot of different groups to hang out with.  I played on two ball teams and one ultimate frisbee team, I had my work friends and I also had random friends from high school and stuff with whom I'd hang out with on occasion.  I went out all the time.  I actually had to plan nights where I was going to stay home and watch TV just to recover.

So, basically, I went from going out all the time to going out never.  Here, on weeknights, I work until usually 9pm, go home, check my email, maybe chat online for a bit, then go to bed.  Weekends are usually spent hanging out in my room working on my laptop or reading or whatever.  Occasionally I'll hang out with my friend from Toronto.  So you can see why I was sort of bragging before about having lots of friends because now I'm sounding pretty fucking pathetic.

Anyways, yesterday afternoon at work my roommate said she and her husband were having a BBQ and would I like to join and, coincidentally, I just happened to be reading a recipe I wanted to try out for BBQ chicken but I was going to put it in the oven instead because I'm scared of BBQs ever since I melted the siding off of my house last summer so I was like, sure, that would be awesome, I'll provide the meat and the dessert!  So we had a BBQ just like real people do on the weekend and the chicken was fantastic and so was the strawberry dessert I made because I am an awesome cook.  An awesome, modest cook.

And, while we were eating, I thought it was really cool and fun just hanging out and BBQing and shooting the shit and stuff and then they got a phone call from their neighbours who were having an impromptu party in one of their backyards and they asked if I wanted to come.  And for some reason I said no because I had to do something for work which is a pretty fun activity on a Saturday and, really, I don't much like making small talk with people I don't know but then they were like, there's a hot tub because everyone here is rich and either has a hot tub or a pool so I decided to throw caution to the wind and actually participate in something that sounded like it could be fun rather then watching TV on my laptop.

And it was fun!  I had such a great time.  Everyone was really nice and there were a wide variety of ages, from my age to my parents age, but I had sort of forgotten that I didn't really like being in a bathing suit in front of people when I was sober so I had to kind of wait until it got a bit dark but everyone was pretty drunk by that point anyway so it didn't matter.

And THEN I found out that a group of the guys go mountain biking on the trails every Sunday and they asked me if I wanted to come and I've always wanted to try it and I said I would.  So today we went trail riding and it was so completely awesome.  We went for about 15 K all around these wooded trails, up and down giant giant hills into ravines and over bridges and streams.  It was so beautiful and so fun and I only fell once but it was just a little fall and no one saw so it was ok.

The thing about Oakville is, it's a rich city and it's made for rich active people who have nothing better to do than be rich and active all the time.  There are parks everywhere and the trails are actually right inside the city.  While the city expanded, they kept so much forest land just for people to enjoy that, no matter where you live, a trail is just a block away.  And they're not just dinky park trails.  They're actually trails that you would find in the wilderness to the point that when you're riding you don't feel like you're in the city anymore.  But you are.  In the city. On a trail in the forest.  I really can't get over it.

After we were done we all hung out drinking our water and being all cool with our bike gear and then I came home and my roommate and I went to this awesome huge organic food indoor farmers market place called The Organic Garage which was such a great place and I would have liked to stay longer if I didn't think I was going to pee my pants(not from excitement, I really had to pee).   Then we went out for coffee and THEN we went to this massive nursery just outside of town and I bought some tomatoes for my new place. 

And now, I'm back on my laptop but, because I had such a good weekend with people and everything, I don't feel as pathetic.  The best part is, I've started to be included as one of the group.  They're having a big pool party in July and I'm invited!  I may have to get over the bathing suit phobia.  And they're also going to help me move next Sunday which is pretty sweet as well.

The End