Bye Bye Rooster, Welcome Dog!

Happy Chinese New Year! Yesterday was the first day of the year of the Dog, and we bid farewell to the year of the Rooster, which I debate can also be called the year of the Chicken, since Rooster's are just male chickens, and in Chinese there is no distinction between male chickens and female chickens, so why don't we English-speaking chinese new year celebrators use the generic term for the animal. But I guess this is all besides the point. Last night we had a fabulous dinner chez at home with many wonderful guests, with lots of amazing food. I am still full today, and have made my chinese new year resolution that I will not feast so opulently again until Easter, which is April 16th. This holiday season has been a very festive one, but it is time to get back to reality so that I will look good in my wedding pictures.

On the wedding planning front, Geofford and I have accomplished quite a bit. We have booked the church (the show, as Geofford calls it, is at 1pm at Good Shepherd Parish), we have put a desposit on the tuxedos for the guys, which will be getting at Moores, we have decided on a photographer - Dan Benoit - one of the Santa photographers that I worked with, I have bought my wedding dress from the Cedar Closet, I have picked the bridesmaids dresses, but we have not picked a venue for the dinner/dance. The Congress Centre is the frontrunner because it is in a central location, it is right next to the canal, it is attached to a hotel, it is located near a bunch of hotels, and will do most of the work, which means we really will be able to relax the night of our wedding, which is very appealing to me right now. Once we have booked the venue, then most of the major wedding planning, besides the guest list, will be complete, which means that I will just have fun with the details :)

I passed!

I just found out today that I have passed all of my courses, which means that I can graduate with a Master's in Arts - Human Kinetics. Yay!

I have been quite the slacker in posting lately, but I am blaming that on being sick...which isn't really a good excuse, but it's all that I have.

Here are some things that have happened in the past couple weeks:

- Francis (my brother) proposed on Christmas Eve to his girlfriend, Jaclyn Gannon, who is now his fiance, and they have set a date for July 29, 2006 (which is also the anniversary of my father's birthday)
- Geofford and I set a date for a wedding, so we will officially be husband and wife on September 16, 2006.
- Stephan proposed to Lisa and they will be getting married sometime in December 2006 potentially in Hawaii (and Geofford and I will use that trip for our honeymoon)
- My cousin Arnold married Bibiana Yau on January 7, 2006 and Geofford and my family went to enjoy the festivities. We are going to use all of the weddings that we attended to help us plan our wedding.
- It looks like the Westin is booked on September 16, 2006, so this means that we will not be able to have a chinese banquet for our dinner unless we have it in a chinese restaurant, which I don't really want.
- I have picked my bridesmaids, and there will be five: Tracy Fung, Lisa Reynolds, Kathy-Sarah Focsaneanu, Shanna Hunt, and Rachel Desrochers

Finally, Geofford and I will be attending the Bridal Fair this weekend to hopefully find a venue for the reception, plus flesh out some other details. I'll post up more details as I figure them out.