Just an average Boutilier day

It's my turn. It's Monday morning and I still don't know what to write about.

I guess I could tell you about my weekend. Nothing interesting happened though.

It was my 23rd birthday and it certainly did not go as planned.

My previous plans to go to the zoo were dashed. I had been looking forward to seeing the Beluga whales at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, forever. Read "forever" with emphasis.

The last time I saw them was about a year ago and I always thought they were so beautiful.

Instead I went to Olympia where I attended a party for all the moms in my family for Mother's Day. I thought it might be lame, but it turned out to be really fun.

On the drive over my mom told me my uncle was in the hospital. He got really sick and the doctors decided to remove his appendix. During the surgery his appendix ruptured, yikes. Afterward, the doctors stumbled upon an aneurysm. Again, yikes. From what I understand, my uncle accidentally avoided instant death twice. If that's not a blessing in disguise, I don't know what is.

When I arrived to my aunt's house in Olympia, I was greeted by a boy I grew up with who I hadn't seen in a long, long time. I remember I liked him because we used to play hair salon. He was the stylist and I was the patron who always left with an interesting hair-do.

It's weird seeing my family sometimes, everybody is grown up and some even have kids.

My cousin Katie went to prom over the weekend. It's weird imagining her being 17 years old because I remember her being 10 years old with no interest in boys. In front of everyone I asked her if she "did it." It's very easy to make her blush so she is an easy target for jokes. But no, of course she didn't "do it." Like myself, my family merely enjoys making fun of each other.

I listened to all our parents talk about what it was like when we were little.

Candy bar fund-raisers were obviously difficult for my cousin Clay. Within a couple days he ate several boxes of candy and hid the evidence under the bed. When it was time to turn in the money he "raised" he wasn't really sure what to do.

Then there was cousin Terra who threw a fit while we were playing Candy Land. I guess I was winning and she didn't like it. She threw the board game across the room. I cried, she cried, we all cried. Losing at Candy Land can be quite devastating to a child.

On the drive back to Gig Harbor, my parents and I stopped for ice cream. In true Boutilier fashion, we took a photo of the ice cream on my phone to show my brother what he missed out on. My brother loves ice cream. Read "loves" with emphasis.

The ice cream incident was how my day ended, just another average day.

Candice Boutilier is the Columbia Basin Herald city reporter.