My Lunch With Jamie

One of the things that I've that I've fortunately enjoyed over the years is the opportunity to spend time with colleagues overseas, in which you realize that they're often a lot more fun than the usual humdrum lives we lead at work.  Recently I had a chance to have some fun in a foreign land with a friend, although it wasn't really that foreign and I already knew the friend was fun.  Since we're so close to Montreal we often fly out of there, which is both cheaper and more dependable than Burlington (since we're so small our flights are routinely late if not cancelled).  I've developed the reputation for being a dependable driver for folks flying out of or into Montreal, not only because, well, I am pretty dependable, but also because I love adventures, even mild ones, and no one can ever turn the opportunity for Tim Horton's TimBits.  The excellent Jamie Kelly, wife of the esteemed Mike Kelly, and long-suffering, patient mother of the Barbarians (Nick, Jack Jack, and Sam) needed to ride up to Montreal to catch a flight out to Nebraska to meet the family for their usual late summer trip home, and she asked me for a ride.  I picked her up at work and she immediately said thank you by handing over a six pack of beer, which led to this exchange:  GS: "Cool, thanks.  Uh, you do know we're going to be crossing an international border twice, right?"  JK: "Sooo, I should put it in the trunk?"  Happily, none of the border guards were that curious, especially since we tend to drive up through the islands and cross at the smaller crossings and they to just be happy for the business.  On the way up we had to stop at Chez Pepe, obviously.  This was our first adventure together.  Normally the closest we come to hi-jinx is when I stop by to gab when I walking the dog (yesterday she, Sam and I discussed where Sam should go to college, although he's only seven; the popular choices were: University of Iowa (Jamie's pick), Notre Dame or someplace in Maine (Sam's pick, because he wanted to be close to his mom) or someplace in Prague (me).  Beyond that whenever there is even a chance of us seeing the Northern Lights in Vermont I pester Mike and Jamie until they agree to sit out in their front yard and we wait, unsuccessfully, but contentedly, fueled by astronomical fervor and adult scholarly beverages.

Jamie posing in front of the sign for Chez Pepe. Clearly, she's having too much fun.

Jamie mulling over the Chez Pepe menu.  Hint: the answer is smoked meat and poutine, it was Canada after all.

I never, well clearly almost never, take selfies, but Jamie dragooned me into snapping one. Obviously, the look on my face shows that I'm not that experienced with snapping selfies.