Michael's Birthday Dinner

Amber's Photo.

My friend Michael invited me out to his birthday dinner on Friday. I know him through my other friend, Rob. They all work together at Nadurra an eco-friendly, hardwood flooring company near Yorkdale Mall.

Michael had e-mailed me earlier in the week telling me about the dinner. It was going to be at Churrasco Villa, a Portuguese restaurant located on Eglinton, near Mount Pleasant. Only a few blocks from where I live. He said they were going to meet there between 5-6:00 p.m., but he'd get back to me to confirm the exact time.

When Friday rolled around I still hadn't heard back from him. No problem, I thought. I only live about 5 minutes from the restaurant. I didn't think they'd be able to get there that early coming from work and having to worry about traffic and parking. 5:00 p.m. rolled around and still no word.

At 6:00 I sent Michael a text and told him to let me know when they arrived at the restaurant. A short time later he replied saying they arrived at the restaurant at 5:00. Hm. I walked over quickly.

Everyone had already ordered their food sometime between 5:30 and 5:45. When I got there they had just been served. I glanced through the menu, but instead, to be quick, asked for suggestions. Brian said, the fire-grilled chicken was good. So I ordered the double-leg with seasonal vegetables and rice pilaf.

The waiter brought my dinner less than five minutes later (I'm estimating). I believe he put my order in ahead of the queue so I could join the others at my table who were already eating. That was nice of him.

It was good seeing everyone again. I don't go in as often to help at Nadurra. Normally I go in and help with labeling samples at the office. And, sometimes, they ask me to help set up or tear down at trade shows. I think they're trying to cut down on costs now. That's alright. I'd rather have my Fridays off to tell you the truth.

I got the chance to see Sandro again. He left the company a few months to a year after I had first started going in. I thought he was a really nice guy. Brian, Ian and Samantha were also there along with Ian's wife and daughter and Michael's friend, Gary, and Michael's wife, Amber. Sandro brought his young son, Luka (sp?) too.

After dinner Michael, Gary and I hung out a bit longer. We grabbed beverages at the nearby Timmies and headed over to the new Minto condos on Yonge. They have a courtyard with outdoor seating. Since it was nice out we decided to take advantage of that instead of sitting inside.

We hung out there for an hour or so and talked about a variety of things from the condition of Gary's father who is in hospital to Shin Dong-hyuk, the Korean man who escaped notorious Camp 14 in North Korea.

It was nice hanging out with the guys. I'm happy I made it out. Even if they almost forgot about me at the beginning of the night.

Dishwashing Crew @ OOTC

This is a photo of Michael and I by the dishwasher at the Out of the Cold program at Knox Presbyterian Church. We volunteer here every Tuesday night from the beginning of November to the end of April. Our program caters to disadvantaged young people under the age of 25. We provide them with a hot meal and food to take home from our food bank. After dinner they can join Darlene's sewing group, shoot hoops with their buddies, play our antiquated video game system or use the 5-pin bowling alley when we choose to open it.

We open shop at 6:30 p.m. The first volunteers come much earlier to prepare the meal. The only regular I know from that time is Pat. He's a really cool guy. There's another fellow who's always there too, but I don't know his name. I'm sort of embarrassed about that because he's been helping out for many years. Other people have come and gone over the five years that I've been here, but those two have always been there.

Since I can't cook I arrive between 6:30 and 7:00. Just in time to meet the rush of dirty dishes. Normally we get 80-120 guests plus 10-20 volunteers. That's a lot of food and a lot of dirty dishes, cutlery and pots and pans. Normally Michael and I will switch between running the dishwasher and scrubbing the pots and pans in the sink beside it. Various people will sort and put away the clean dishes for us. Usually it's Harim, Micheal's fiancée Nicole or John. If Trevor is around washing dishes I'll help put the clean ones away. At the height of the dishwashing frenzy it can be a madhouse in our area. Stay out of the way or you might get bowled over by one of us rushing in with a trolley full of dirty dishes or rushing out with the clean ones.

Our system has evolved over the months. Now the end is all but upon us. We had a good year. Hopefully I'll see some familiar faces helping out next winter. I won't be surprised if I don't though. There is a bit of turn around understandably.

Take care my friends. Have a great summer. To view a few more photos click here.