Saturday, September 17, 2016

Jo's Big Birthday Blog Hop!! (So Sorry I'm Late!)

Starting September 17 U.K. time, everyone that signed up to be part of Jo's Big Birthday Blog Hop was supposed to have a post up! So everyone could enjoy it. I sincerely apologize to all of you and especially Jo that I am so ridiculously late getting this post up. Best laid plans, yadda yadda.. my sincere apologies!

Jo gave me the year of 1991 and her story goes like this:


1991 - Jo was 25.  Concert going continues to dominate Jo's life as her career continues on a steady upward trajectory.  Highlights of this year were the long awaited Guns 'n' Roses concerts at Wembley Stadium and a trip to Paris to see Alice Cooper one day and the Scorpions the next night.  While wandering around the streets of Paris soaking up the atmosphere Jo's friend spotted a familiar figure - "that guy looks just like Klaus Meine from the Scorpions".  It was!  He was quite taken aback to have four English rock fans stop to say Hello but very graciously posed for photos and then they let him continue shopping in peace.

The following year Jo was lucky enough to get tickets to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium.  Her friend lived only a few miles from Wembley and as soon as the show was announced she jumped in her car and drove straight to the box office (this was pre-internet days remember!).  Another mind-blowing and unforgettable concert.

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My life in 1991 was a little bit different. I was still in high school and 1991 was the year I met Kory, who was to become my best friend for the rest of high school and still continues to be a great friend. She lives in the UK now, although her family and mine mostly still live near the small town in Ontario where we grew up. We were in different towns, but went to the same high school. 

I met Kory when we were seated next to each other in grade 10 science class. I will never forget how well she could dissect our frog. It was like an instruction manual. Kory and I shared a love of The Princess Bride that continues through today of course, because how could it not? And I think I currently own 2 copies of the movie, having given my 3rd copy to my brother, who didn't have one. They're all different editions, so it's normal. :)

We also bonded over Pirates of Penzance, which no one else seemed to have heard of, and one memorable night when a grade 11 biology project was due, at 3am we decided we would test our teacher and see if she actually read our project. In the middle of the essay we wrote "Hello, my name is Joe, I have a wife and a job and family". It was never marked out... it was never read. We got a B+ I think? That night we also decided that instead of getting 2 hours of sleep before school we'd watch the Princess Bride again. :D

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The next part of Jo's Blog Hop is to describe what happened to me at 25 years old. I had yet to graduate from optometry school, and I had a major life event. My Grandpa, who all of the grandchildren were pretty close to, became very ill and eventually died that year. This was the first major loss I had experienced. Other distant relatives that I didn't see often had passed over the years, but this was the first person that I saw on a weekly or more basis that I would not see again. 

I also started clinic rotations that year and started seeing patients. If you can imagine, an exam by an optometry student takes about 2 hours. By the end of the semester it was maybe closer to 90 minutes, but still, a long time. There are a few patients I remember from then, it was an excellent learning experience. 
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Lastly, we're to post some stitching Jo might like. I don't believe I've posted this on my blog before, and Jo, I hope you like it, and again, I am so sorry to be late. 

12 Days of Christmas table runner - stitched for Xmas 2012 and given to my parents:

Close-ups
 
 
 
 

And the whole thing:
 

Happy Stitching!

Tiffstitch

17 comments:

  1. Nice to know about you too! I told Anshita about your biology project and she laughed a lot :D
    Your stitching project is so beautiful!!:)

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  2. Thanks for taking part in the Birthday Blog Hop. The photos and clips are perfect! I bet you know the Inigo speech off by heart too?
    Love the story about the Science project and your admiration of your friend's skill at disection! What a way to choose a best friend LOL
    Sorry to hear that you lost your Grandad at a relatively young age. My Grandad was my first close family member too, when I was in my 30s.
    The table runner is gorgeous. I'm more of a Hallowe'en stitcher but I have a weakness for 12 Days designs and this is a fantastic one. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. Your science project made me chuckle. Boy, I hated that s cation of biology. Seemed like everything smelled like formaldehyde. Lively table runner.....so nice to know more about you and Jo.
    xxx

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  4. What an amazing post! Quite adventurous!

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  5. Ahahah, a truly good dissection is quite useful to have in a friend. You'll never know when you need to call her skills into play LOL.

    That is a stunning 12 days piece. Just the right amount of curliness!

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  6. A lovely post to celebrate Jo's big day, I enjoyed reading it. A lovely table runner.

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  7. Great to see your stitching!Thanks for visiting my blog! I can only be in awe with all those music concerts in Jo's life!AriadnefromGreece!

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  8. It's a great post Tiff, and a terrific project to show Jo.

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  9. L'ho ricamato anch'io qualche anno fa, รจ bellissimo!

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  10. Love your story! Great memories for you :o)
    Your table runner is gorgeous!
    Hugs xx

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  11. Eccolo https://ricamire.blogspot.it/2012/12/runner-festive-dining.html :)

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  12. I love both your stories. Particularly the part where The Princess Bride makes an appearance. Great book and great movie.
    Wonderful, your Twelve Days table runner that you show for Jo's birthday.

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  13. I spent my elementary school days in Grimsby Ontario - it was a very small town back then - your post spark a few memories - Thank You!.

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  14. I'm hopping by on the blog hop. What a great post. Thanks for sharing. Love your stitched piece!! I LOVE Princess Bride too!

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  15. Still enjoying Jo's birthday cake... and fantastic BB blog hop. Great post, I love a lot the stories about frogs (make me remember my science class too), about testing the teacher. Your table runner is just amazing. Amicalement. xxx

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  16. I am slowly hopping through the birthday blog posts. I enjoyed reading your very interesting post, and just love your table runner. This is such a nice thing to be involved in.

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Thanks for any comments!

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