There’s something magical about the wedding tuxedo, regardless of whether you’re the groom or one of the guys chosen to act as bookends at the ceremony.  It gives every man an air of class and sophistication, even if it’s a rental, and that’s something that every guy can use a bit more of in his life.  As soon as you put it on, you feel like you should be sipping martinis and have a small handgun strapped to your ribs in case one of Ernst Bloefeld’s henchmen show up to throw a spanner in the works.

So between now and late May, I’ll be sorting out how best to groom my facial hair and working on my Sean Connery imperSHonation so I can be sure to demonstrate how debonair I can be in my fitted duds.

It snows in Canada.  All winter, in fact.  I don’t mean continually for the duration of the entire season, but on and off throughout it.  Sometimes it snows a little and sometimes it snows a lot.  Maybe it melts or turns to ice, but before April, you can be pretty sure that if it’s snowing, it will probably snow again.

So why on earth is everyone acting like yet another snowfall at the end of February is a sign of the end times?  This hasn’t even been a particularly snowy winter and you’d think that we were collectively buried under eight feet of the stuff.

Phew.  There. I got that off my chest.  Thanks for listening.  I’ll see you again in another three months. Or sooner.  Or later.  Maybe when it snows next.

I’ve begun hearing from many of you, wondering where the email and blog post about the annual burger-binge at Dangerous Dan’s is.  Well, here it is, quite a bit later than usual.  Between not having any personal email access at work (I know. Crazy, right?) and keeping up with a toddler, this has pretty much slipped my mind.

Aside from his cold, he’s doing great.  He’s walking around like crazy and talking up  a storm (both in French and English).  I’m impatiently waiting for the first snow of the season so we can play in the yard and make snowmen and snowballs, but I know that’s a while off yet.

While I’m recovering, my household projects are on hold as it takes most of our energy just to take care of every day chores, but I’ve got plenty of work in the house for later this fall and winter, including finally finishing the basement (baseboard and a drop ceiling).  Now that we have our new shed up in the yard, I’ll have to take apart the old one and hire a junk company to come pick it up and some random odds and ends of wood and metal that were lying around in the yard.

Once all that is done, I’ve got a short list of electrical work (some new outlets upstairs, light switches for some fixtures that have pull cords and an exhaust fan in our steamy bathroom), and then I’ll feel like we have a fully functional home.  Well, at least until I find some more projects to keep me busy.

Awaiting me in that real world are two lawns badly in need of cutting and and a short list of household chores that slowly grew in my convalescence.   Being sick is the worst.

Still, there are things to look forward to in my near future.  For example, our tickets to this weekend’s TFC match also admit us to the CNE for no extra charge, so assuming we can find a babysitter, it’s a relatively cheap afternoon/evening out for us.  I assume I’ll feel well enough to brave the Zipper with a bellyful of deep-fried delights.  Of particular interest is the Krispy Kreme Cheeseburger, which is exactly what it sounds like; a cheeseburger served between two donuts.

Rumour has it that The Arkells will be playing a free show later on in the CNE’s run, so if anyone is interested in heading down there to check them out, let me know.  Since the CNE marks the unofficial end of summer here in Toronto, why not celebrate it with a great outdoor rock concert and some food that will help fatten you up for the long winter to come.

By Saturday afternoon, my symptoms had taken a turn for the worse.  With Danielle in Ottawa helping her sister pick out a wedding dress, I left Sebby with my parents and headed off to the hospital with trouble breathing and an astronomic fever.

Those of you familiar with our cottage and Shawville, Quebec might be surprised to hear that it even has an emergency ward, let alone a good one.  My expectations weren’t very high going in, but from now on, I’m tempted to drive the 5 hours for every medical emergency. In the three hours I was there, I was quickly seen, given x-rays and blood tests and diagnosed before being drugged up and sent packing back home.

I was kind of concerned when I first spoke with my doctor as my symptoms seemed indicative of a particularly bad seasonal flu, but it wasn’t flu season.  She couldn’t rule out West Nile, which was my greatest fear.

I was shocked by the diagnosis; pneumonia!  Apparently it stood out like a sore thumb on my chest x-rays and fully explained everything.

Since the diagnosis, I’ve been on antibiotics and just suffering through the end-phase symptoms of fever, fatigue, body ache and more fever.  I swear I’ve never sweat so much at night in my entire life, and I feel like I’m constantly drinking to keep my fluids up.  I’ll probably be off work all week, but I’m finally able to start helping out at home after WAY too long without being able to hold my baby boy.

The only big plus of this whole mess is that my plan to start eating and living better got a bit of a boost with some high-fever weight loss.  In a little less than a week, I’ve managed to drop nearly half of my extra body weight, but someone will probably tell me that’s not the best weight to lose.

So, sorry for the rambly post… I’m still a little woozy in the ol’ noggin, but I hope to be right as rain in a few more days.