Toronto Trip and Carpenter Competition

I don’t think I even wrote in here about my family visit, I’ve been so busy!
It was a good one, I spent time with just about everyone. I didn’t see April (birth mother) but she lives out in Barrie so it is out of the way. She said she understood if I didn’t get a chance to visit because she knows what out of town visits are like. I was so grateful for that! Melissa said the same thing, which surprised me. Normally all she cares about is getting attention, but she’s really starting to mature, which is really nice. It makes her all the more interesting to visit, so that’s nice.
Robs competition went well. I’m very skeptical about a few things, and I very seriously wonder if it was fixed.
The drawings they had to make the project were incomplete and calculations had to be done to figure out the measurements. Everyone took 1hr to 1.5hrs just to figure out the measurements. All except one guy. He just went straight to it. Very sketchy.
Same guy was the only one who finished the project. All day I was worried because he wasjust kicking everyones ass like no tomorrow.
But all the guys kept telling me he made a lot of mistakes, they were basing everything on the two days of all the activities, not just this project. They also said that even if some of the guys didn’t finish, they would be evaluated by the quality of work completed.
Banquet/award time came, guess who won? The guy with a million mistakes. The same guy whose union hosted the competition, and already had 4 finished projects sitting outside the building. Weird…

Good visit with my family though, spent 5 or 6 hours with my Nanny, then my Dad, Grandpa and brother. 4-5 hours with grandma, and 2 or 3 hours with my sister. My mom even made an appearance. AND she was NICE! I even had a couple good conversations with her! It was very nerve-racking. I want so badly to get along with her. It was great.
Nanny gave me some old stuff she’d been holding onto. Stuff from when I was 5 even. Drawings, letters, handmade cards. Lol… So many funny things!
Also some jams and jellies they bought at craft shows. And one really cool thing, was the port my grandpa gave Rob. He made and bottled it himself in 1954. How cool is that?!