Family Day weekend odds & ends

• It's the Family Day long weekend here in Ontario. While I have my reservations about the name of this made-up holiday (as I've expressed in years past) -- it's a long weekend. In February. I'll take it. ;)  Fortunately, we seem to have been spared too much rhapsodizing or analyzing over what the holiday is supposed to be about in the press.
• We've spent much of the weekend watching the Olympics -- live (thank goodness for the CBC & its partner networks!). I did manage to see the pairs figure skating final live at lunchtime on Wednesday -- as they often do for events like the Olympics & World Cup, they have set up big screen TVs in the concourse of my office tower.  However, when Team Canada is playing hockey, you can forget about watching anything else;  you know what's going to be on...! And the crowds will only get bigger as the tournament goes on.
• Kicking off the long weekend, Friday was Valentine's Day.  Earlier in the week, a friend who is going through a nasty divorce posted something from Pinterest on Facebook that read, "Let's celebrate Anti-Valentine's Day... We can wear black all day and throw things at happy people." I was sorely tempted to comment, "Now you know how I/some of us feel on Mother's Day." (Or Family Day, for that matter.)   But I managed to bite my cybertongue.  ;) 
• Dh & I generally don't fuss much on Valentine's Day, although we always exchange cards.  But this turned out to be a memorable one: Oldest Nephew popped the question to his girlfriend of the past five years or so. We knew he had bought The Ring & planned to ask her on Valentine's Day but it was still a bit of a shock when BIL called dh to say the deed was done. It hardly seem possible that that adorable baby I cuddled, that bright eyed toddler whose fingerprints smudged up my mirrors and TV set, that mischievous little boy, that gangly teenager, is getting MARRIED. And then I remember that he's 25, and actually older than I was when I got married. Erk. The Fiancee still has another year of school to go... I have heard fall 2015 tossed around as a date. (Which gives me some time to embark on yet another round of weight loss efforts, lol.)
• "For sure she would have been a bridesmaid," dh said wistfully, referring to Katie (of course), as we talked about the forthcoming wedding. She would be 15 right now. I can picture her now, having fun with her two tall, handsome cousins. They would have taken good care of her. They only have one other cousin, on their mom's side (also a girl), & she will likely be a bridesmaid. It will be a bittersweet day for Sam & me, for sure. But since I will never be the mother of the bride, I am determined to enjoy being the aunt of the groom(s -- also when Younger Nephew's turn comes) as much as possible.
• As if that didn't make the weekend exciting enough -- we Skyped with The Princess/PNGD and she told us "I'm going to be a big sister!"  Yes, by the time next Christmas rolls around, there will be a new little Princess or Prince to spoil.  "Someone's nose is going to be out of joint," my mother said. "I guess we'll just have to spoil her extra to make up for it," said I. ;) 
• Awhile back, I mentioned that I would taking an "oral challenge" to see whether I still react to tomatos. Dh & I spent almost five hours at the allergy clinic last Tuesday, as I ate increasing amounts of tomato, waiting a half hour between samples to see if I had a reaction. I managed to eat almost an entire raw tomato... but my throat was becoming increasingly raw and irritated -- and then a hive popped out just above my upper lip. :(  I felt bad for dh -- I could tell he was starting to get excited by the prospect of bringing tomatos back into the house and onto the menu again. 
• On the bright side, I DID manage to eat almost the entire tomato before seeing a hive. It's comforting to know that if I were to accidentally ingest a bit of tomato, I probably don't need to panic. (Even better, the allergist told me that Claritin, which works well on my environmental allergies, or Reactine or Aerius, will also work for food reactions -- no need to zonk myself out with Benadryl.)  And the hive disappeared on its own within an hour, without the need for antihistamines or epi-pens. (To be honest, the fact that I did have a reaction was somewhat validating -- i.e., my previous reactions weren't all in my head;  the allergist saw it too.)  But given that I did have a reaction, albeit a relatively mild one, her advice was continued avoidance. I'll probably go back in another year or two & try again and see if anything has changed by then.