Fighting Cancer with Comedy

So, after a whirlwind trip, we are back from Vancouver (I'll need to do a blog one day on how much I love living in Smithers). I'll give you the play by play....

Friday morning was a rush....thanks to bridge traffic and me assuming that the plane always leaves at 10 (when it actually leaves at 9:40 am) we were 15 minutes away from missing our flight to Vancouver....and we live 4 minutes from the airport. Thankfully once we passed through security we could relax....well almost relax. My sister was frazzeled and needed to vent for about 20 minutes about the rude Air Canada employee that greeted us at the airport. I needed to remind her that is it almost a requirement for AC employees to treat you as if you have ruined their entire day. The ticket lady (as she will now be known), felt it was a great idea to greet us with a 'YOU'RE LATE' and then proceed to tell us she was marking our bags with a 'L' for 'late' and if our bags didn't get on the plane (which she COULD NOT guarantee) then Air Canada would not deliver them for free.

I'm sorry?

You can not guarantee that our bags will get on our plane? The plane that I can see from the very spot I am standing? I could call to Joe-Bob and ask him to put the bags on the plane and he could hear me from here! So, Calvin and I didn't check our bags, we just brought them as carry-ons....of course, I had to sort out my lipchaps and handcream but whatev....I wanted my bag in YVR.

Ok, fast forward to Vancouver...good flight, cranberry oat cookies (which for me is always the best part of flying...SNACKS!!!), everyone got their bags, and we were off to the River Rock Casino and Resort. What an amazing hotel! CTV paid for our room, and we knew we were sharing one with Aaron and Vanessa, not totally romantic but free so who's complaining? NOT ME...especially once we saw the room. We had a corner suite with a big main living area and two king size bedrooms off each end of the living room. Each room had an amazing view and a big tv. The Casino in the hotel was pretty cool too....we're not big gamblers but it's quite the scene...lights flashing etc....Calvin and Aaron did go to the casino on friday night and lost 20 dollars....BIG SPENDERS!!! (Side note, on friday night I was taking the elevator upstairs to change after my Dad's show and a very drunk angry man got on the elevator with me and started banging his head on the elevator door b/c he lost 13 THOUSAND dollars at the casino. He asked me if I knew how that felt, and the only thing I could say was that my husband was totally ripped off when he lost 20 bucks earlier....not quite on the same scale.....)

Friday we had a fancy dinner, then got to go backstage at the show (which was almost sold out...1000 people). From there, the documentary crew did some filming of Vanessa and I...we were very nervous, and it's hard to be natural when a camera and boom mike are in your face. The interviewer Adam has been following my Dad and Joanna around for a year now, he's like family. He really hit it off with Calvin and Aaron and just kind of made us feel comfortable. (Some people have asked when the documentary is going to be airing...it will be on CTV on September 27th, I'll update if anything changes). About 15 minutes before the show we took our seats. Oh...backstage were all the comedians, most of whom we had already met. Mark Critch (from This Hour Has 22 Minutes) hosted the show. He worked with my Dad for 4 years in Halifax, and they are really good friends. Mark is probably one of the funniest human beings alive! Anyway, first up was a good friend of my Dad's and best man at his wedding, Sam Easton, next was a guy my Dad started doing comedy with way back in the 80's, Bruce Clark, then came Peter Kelamis, the 'R' rated Shaun Majumbder from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Brent Butt from 'Corner Gas' (who has been my Dad's buddy for about 18 years) and then my Dad. We were all laughing so hard, my cheeks hurt, my stomach hurt and I was keanly aware of the camera filming our row most of the show.

After the show we went backstage and hung out some more, sang 'happy birthday' to my Dad, and then we moved the party up to a lounge where for the rest of the evening people bought us drinks, laughed, talked and just had a great time.

We went to bed at 3 A.M.

The last time I went to bed at 3 am, I think I was 19....I'm getting too old for this stuff!

We woke up at 9. YES NINE.....strolled down to the pool and hot tub....did a few waterslides and then got ready to meet my family for brunch. We went to the mall for the afternoon and then Dad surprised us with a limo ride to our dinner date at Joanna's Mom's house...where we were fed and watered beyond what we needed to be....had a ton more laughs and then headed back to the hotel where we played a bit of 'Phase 13' (a new game we LOVE LOVE LOVE) and then headed to bed around midnight, only to have to get up at 5:45 A.M. to catch our plane home.

It was a whirwhind but we had SO much fun.....

How much fun?

Well, I have a full blown cold, probably from lack of sleep.....so does Calvin.

It was SO worth it.

It's off to YVR we go....

I'm leaving with my hubby, Vanessa and Aaron to go see my Dad's show in Vancouver today.

It's at the River Rock Casino and Resort and it will be featuring a whole bunch of Canadian comedians...I"M SO EXCITED!

First of all, I'm excited for 'Airport Starbucks'. Don't ask me why but for some reason the Starbucks at the airport is KICKIN'!

I'm also excited about being in the CTV documentary about my Dad's life (and ultimately death). We are all getting interviewed this afternoon..what shall I wear???????

Thirdly, it will be nice to get away for a couple of days and flying to Vancouver is such a treat.

See you Sunday!