Haha thanks Derek that post was just all over the place
The Deanster is totally PIMPin' though.
Gathering of Irregular Movers: Paris (GIMP)
Thursday night I had the opportunity to pick Chris Dean up from the airport! It was great to see him again, especially since I didn’t expect to see him so soon after USO. He came to school and hung out on campus while I got my work done Friday. In the afternoon I got to have a 2 man sesh with him! The weather was beautiful and it was a really enjoyable shred. Chris makes shuffle look sooo good.
That evening we headed to Toronto to meet up with Erik, Alex, and Camille. Once my car (and trunk) was at full capacity we made the relatively short trip to Paris Ontario. Paris is a quaint place with a really nice atmosphere. Kristin and Johnny live behind a business with their backyard overlooking downtown.
When we arrived Johnny was just getting back from picking Adam up from the bus station (since my car was full). It was so nice to be back at this awesome place with such great people.
We sat around a campfire and had a chill evening. Normally I don’t spend too much time detailing what I eat at events but the food at this one was definitely worth mentioning. Kristin made us some freaking amazing nachos. Every time I went in the house I was hit in the face with the delicious smell of garlic. So much avocado. So good.
Alex and I were the last ones awake Friday. It had been a while since I’ve seen him so it was good to spend some time.
They had a tent set up for us with really comfy cushions to sleep on. Best sleep I’ve ever had in a tent with five other people.
Everyone was up at a decent time Saturday. There was tons of delicious fresh fruit, vegetables, peanut butter, and zucchini banana walnut bread for breakfast. The coffee was
amazing but also really strong. It kicked my ass in the best possible way.
Here's part of their awesome garden.
The whole morning was really chill. There was no rush to be anywhere which was nice. I went for a little walk by the river with Adam, Alex, Erik, and Chris.
Here’s a photo of everyone watching some guy in the river catch a fish.
Lunch was rice with a whole bunch of yummy vegetables. More avocado. Om nom nom.
Jay boychuk arrived! It was really good to see him finally!
After lunch everyone geared up to play some footbag. The shred spot was a few blocks away. We played on a stage in a park that was over some bathrooms. It was a pretty decent spot although the surface was rather unforgiving.
I think my favourite part was near the beginning when I had a circle with Jay and Johnny. Chris also joined after a while. Amaze.
It was really hot.
I was pretty sore from shred the day before with Chris (no regrets there) and not taking enough rest time this week. I didn’t play that well as a result. It’s going to be tough but I really need to take some time off footbag to allow my body to heal up.
At the end of the session Camille wanted to go swimming so I agreed to go to the pool with her. It started raining just as everyone was leaving the covered shred spot. We didn’t actually know where the pool was located and ended up giving up on the idea. Camille and I took a nice walk through Paris and ended up taking a roundabout route. We had some nice conversation along the way and ended up cutting through a school that took us to Johnny’s back yard. Convenient. Aside from having to hop the fence in sandals.
Dinner was a super delicious vegan pumpkin chili. Yum.
I passed out for a while because I was beat from the session. I woke up in time to say goodbye to Jay.
One of the highlights of the event was definitely battle hoops. They had these massive heavy hoops that are meant more as a workout hoop I guess.
To footbag people it only made sense to battle with them! This was such a fun time. The idea is to attack each other with the hoops and knock the other persons hoop down while keeping your own going. People who don’t even hoop that well were kicking ass in battles. I’m pretty sure Erik was the hoop battle champion. I had one really intense battle with Alex that lasted pretty long but I came out victorious in that bout.
Johnny and Kristin were able to borrow a massive sound system for the party Saturday night. It was awesome. We rocked out to some sick drum n bass beats all evening. Some more people came out to party that night and a good time was had by all. I spent a bunch of time hooping which became more and more dangerous on the slopey back yard the more I drank.
Adam gave me props for one of my hooping ‘runs’ this weekend which was cool. I also got props from Kristin on my improvement which was awesome! We talked about hooping a bunch. I’m really looking forward to checking out some events. They sound so amazing!
What an awesome time hanging out by the fire with good music and great people!
I had some more really good talks with Alex. He’s usually such a joker but he’s also one of my favourite people to talk about real shit with. We want different things at this point in life but we’re both pretty open minded and I really value his perspective.
There was also some talk about East Coasts. It sounds like I might be able to fill my car up for the trip
I have to get some details sorted out still.
Sunday I woke up early and no one was awake so I showered and went back to sleep. I woke up again and Adam was the only other person awake. Everyone rose pretty late that day. I probably should have made more of a ruckus to get people moving.
No one wanted to play footbag with me so I shredded alone for a while on the concrete near the fire pit where Adam, Erik and Alex were chilling. It was really hot again so I didn’t play too long. I wanted to do spinning stuff. This kept making my hangover kick in and I would lose balance after a few attempts. It still felt good to play.
The morning was pretty chill. Spent some time hooping and consuming vast quantities of water. Johnny got up around 11. The place was a bit of a mess from the party so I helped clean up a bit. Johnny made us some potatoes and poached eggs in his underwear (no complaints about that). There was also more fruit and peanut butter and things. And some really awesome smoothie! Actually this was the third delicious smoothie of the weekend. Yum!
We ended up in a bit of a crunch for time since a lot of people slept late. Kristin was upset that no one woke her up and I felt bad about that. It would have been nice to spend more time with her. We didn’t get a chance to do yoga together which would have been really nice.
Around 2:30 I said goodbye to Adam and our wonderful hosts. We packed up the car and headed to Hamilton to drop Chris off. This goodbye wasn’t as difficult as the last time I had to say goodbye to him. I know we will meet again in less than a month
I was pretty beat for the drive home. Trying to coordinate things at events and get people moving when there is a time limit can be pretty stressful sometimes. It’s nice to have a full car but it also requires a little more management and being on top of people to get organised sometimes.
Overall it was just really great to spend a relaxing, intimate weekend with such wonderful friends. It is also really refreshing to eat well at an event. Unquestionably the best food at an event ever. Johnny and Kristin worked really hard. Next time I think they need to reach out for help more so that they have more of an opportunity to really enjoy the experience. They were absolutely incredible hosts though.
It was nice that there was no competition to worry about at this event. I didn't even mind that minimal shred happened. This weekend was a fabulously relaxing and fun way to cap off another incredible summer.
<3
