As of this writing I am a little under 4 weeks away from returning to Grande Prairie, better known for it’s wide variety of sausage, to embark on the later half of my life. I’ve lived in Edmonton since late 2001 and I’ve had my fair share of roommates, Wing Wednesdays, heroin beers, Oiler games, and most importantly stories. When I left Beaverlodge I was a skinny goalie and now when I return I will be a hefty out of shape one hoping to relapse into past glory.

I’m going to miss city life A LOT based on the sole fact of having so many different options to do on a day or evening. Gone will be the nights of hitting some random sketchy bar on Whyte or Jasper Ave because there is no line or it’s where we just seen some females walk in, instead in will be (if a bar is the answer) a trip to one of Madhatters or the Lions Den where the ratio of male to female is a little under 100:1. Thankfully there will be hockey, crossfitting, and *gasp* work!

The worst part of leaving the city for me is no more random night Oiler games, no more golfing a different course every weekend, no more deciding last minute to attend a Capitals baseball game, or no more days enjoying the sun and straight vodka sitting in College Corner (even though it doesnt exist anymore anyway) at Commonwealth Stadium.

There has certainly been a lot of moments, here are some of them…

The Stonehouse

The Stonehouse on Jasper Avenue seemed to be like a second home to some of us. Every Wing Wednesday we often found ourselves at our usual table with our usual waitress (dubbed pigtails). No one knows for sure but ask anyone of Trav, Jmoe, Sleaze, Stone, or I and we will all tell you we put her through College or at least made the down payment on her first house. Our looks were so good (OK OK our tipping was big) that we often found ourselves drinking ceasars out of tea pots by the end of the night.

Madden Bowl

The first Madden Bowl turned out to be a huge success although normally when kegs of beer are involved one doesn’t usually have to do much to make it a successful party. The only draw back was the actual playing of EA’s Madden football, the innagural winner was none other then Jmoe based solely on the fact he managed to stay coherent enough to still work the controls. Eventually Madden Bowl was famously known for introducing us all to the bad sweater party which resulted in multiple spin off parties but none that ever compared to the original.

Oilers Playoff Run 2006

As long as I live this is something I wont ever forget. Being fortunate enough to attend each home game was one thing but leaving the arena on multiple occasions with your ears ringing and losing just a little more of your hearing was something else entirely.

The Toronto Raptors in Edmonton

I think this picture speaks for itself about what kind of shape the majority of us were in, maybe it was seeing my first NBA game (even if it was pre-season), maybe it was the caution tape, maybe it was the apparent ass motor boating, then again this stuff seems to always happen when Oil City and the old Blades puckbunnies are involved (RELAX IM JUST KIDDING, well not really)

The Amadeus Experience

I don’t really know why this one sticks out for me but it was nothing more then a regular long weekend in September in Edmonton, the only difference was the fact we had a personal cab driver all weekend who would pick us up anywhere at anytime. Even better was the fact he promised to take us elephant hunting if we ever went to Africa.

The Rest

There is so much more, the only problem is I don’t have the pictures and probably shouldn’t waste to much of everyone’s time but my most ridiculous weekend was arguably when Benny was home to spend the summer in Hythe and managed to slip out to Edmonton for 5 days or so. The first night was all in good fun but the next morning when we thought it would be a bright idea to drink a bottle of spiced rum straight is where it took a turn for the better. I wont go into great detail but the moment we came across an aluminum boat outside of Cook County we thought our night was complete, it wasn’t until we found a plastic bag full of dark rum, a 2L of Root Beer, and two beers where we knew we had just stepped over the threshold from good night to great.

Needless to say it’s been a great 8 or so years and I’ve been fortunate to enjoy every minute of it. Thankfully all my roommates have been able to put up with my stupidity and drunkenness even though I’d argue all of them are potentially bigger drinkers then me and I apologize to Courtney and Megan, the only two females who had the audacity to stay here despite the smell. I’m sure I’ve missed multiple run ins and stories but if I think of them I’ll be sure to reminisce later or better yet if you need to remind me of one perhaps because I was blackout drunk then feel free to leave a comment below.

Regardless Im more then looking forward to my move back to Grande Prairie as I still have a ton of friends there, have a great opportunity before me, and will possibly be able to play hockey once again (the first real time in close to 7 years) barring bad results from my MRI.

However there are still close to 4 weeks left in Edmonton so here’s hoping I can go out with one more for the record books because come July 6th I’ll be once again a permanent resident of Grande Prairie.