June 14th come and DANCE IT OUT! Meet at the McDonnel Street Activity Centre at 7pm – dance till midnight with me, Ace & the Kid and all of my cool peeps.
It’s coming up on a year since that first mammogram … holy hell, so much has happened since then. It’s a bit surreal to think back on it. I ran into an old BFF today while searching for yard duty vests at Talize (because that’s what all good Ps do) and we were chatting about it. Her son, now 20 and happily shopping too, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma when he was 10. We talked about how, once you’re diagnosed, you are basically swept along from one appointment to the next. It’s just happening to you. And then it slows down and you come up for air.
Salty Air
I came up for air – after the surgery, chemo, heart attack and kidney insanity – and as soon as we could, we went on a family road trip to PEI. Because if I’ve learning anything from this shit show, you can’t keep saying “we’ll do that next year”.
Everyone must have one cheesy trip photo. Here’s ours.
We had a grand time on the road, in Montreal, staying at whack places, traversing PEI.
One should always rent bikes. Especially when in flat provinces.
And then, the best of all, visiting Deborah and Michael in Maine. It was so great. The sea, the air, the creepy things they made me touch, the seaweed, the rocks.
You can’t be a wimp if you want to get to the kayaks at low tide. The rocks on the Maine coast are so gorgeous. Hence the black and white artsy shot.
Hot Air
And then that was done and we came back to Ontario where everyone was melting. I threw myself into doing practically nothing at the lake. It was pretty much the best summer for being by a lake. Hot and hot and hot.
No Netflix at the lake, only good books.
I decided I’d better do SOMETHING productive, so I finished a project that I started two years ago (… because if I’ve learned anything …). When we first bought the place the little bunkie was stinky and dated. We ripped the laminate flooring off of the floor and counter and backsplash (they must have really loved it).
Pretty rough.
I tiled the counter and planned to cover up the black marks on the wall that was left from the glue.
My first tiling endeavour. (Not giving up my day job.)
I bought some old tin ceiling tiles and scraped them till the loose paint was off then cut them to fit each space. With tin snips from 1902. That was fun. Then I sprayed them with varathane a couple of times. It’s amazing how you can think there’s no wind but there really is wind. Just sayin’.
A great forearm workout. Can’t get that at cardiac rehab!
Gluing the rectangles to the wall was a bit trickier than I’d anticipated. The pieces needed to be pushed against the wall till they set … about 12 hours. I had to be creative and brace them with various objects.
By the end I had garbage pails, chairs, sticks and utensils wedged against the backsplash. McGiveresque.
In the end the wall looks pretty good.
Kinda weird but I like it.
Not long after I got the idea to use tin for backsplash, I decided that I could use the scraps to make up some fish to hang on the wall. You know, “tie in” the backsplash. I’d seen some done a few years back – don’t know where – and somehow they stayed in my memory. So I went for it.
Tip: don't use white glue.
I love the tin on this one. The eye is a rock from Maine.
This piece of tin had a nail hole in it so I added some scales.
I drew on some scrap plywood and Paul them out for me.
I really enjoyed making the fish – and I think that they turned out really well. So I hung them on the crapper at the top of the path so that EVERYONE has to look at them.
Swimming away from the stank.
I figure that if I decide Dougie starts to ruin education and I have to quit, I’ll make fish and sell them on Etsy. I mean, everyone needs a few tin fish on their walls…
And Now?
New school and pretty freaking tired… but I’m loving it and am finding ways to cope. The kids are amazing – everyone has to choose a night to make dinner. (I have a feeling that my next blog entry might be on teenager dinners … ) We all commit to having dinner together at 6:00, including me (which is hard but I did it every night in this first week so that’s something). So far so good. Week two could be a bit hellish with a MUGA scan and two late nights at school (Council mtg and Open House). So we’ll see how I’m doing on Friday.
We all have things that we aspire to do when we have time. Something that I’ve always wanted to do is to get involved with Hospice in some way – ideally as a volunteer. Going through this crappy cancer journey has reminded me of this goal, since one of the goals of Hospice is to help people who are dealing with a life threatening illness live their lives to the fullest. I’m doing that right now, although I don’t needs the services of Hospice – hallelujah x 1 million.
The Organization
If you don’t know about what Hospice is, you’re not alone. A lot of people have no idea that this incredible organization exists, or if they do, they don’t really understand its purpose.
Generally speaking, when someone is dealing with a life threatening or terminal illness they need support. The family needs support. Hospice provides it. As people reach the end of their lives and are in palliative care, Hospice is invaluable.
Currently Hospice Peterborough is building a new facility on London street. It’s a huge endeavour. Here’s a quote from their website:
“The new London Street building will provide a welcoming, accessible space for Hospice Peterborough’s home support program, day program, caregiver support, grief programs, family support, wellness programming and administrative offices. The scope of Hospice is also expanding to include 10 private bedrooms, offering another choice for end of life care in the community and the first hospice care beds to exist in the City and County of Peterborough. This will complete Hospice’s transition to become a central hub for the delivery of hospice palliative care and grief support in our community.”
looking straight at the entrance
Building is underway!
The Pitch
So I’d like to ask a favour. Will you walk with me on May 6th to raise money for Hospice? It’s the day before my 53rd birthday. It would be the best birthday present ever! I will be in recovery from the chemo (although still having other regular non-chemo treatments) and I should be good to walk the suggested route (or most of it).
The Options
No walking – but can donate! Perfect. You likely live too far away, have small children or are too lazy. Haha!
You can donate by pledging to me that you will give me cash. Just let me know how much you can donate in a comment on this page, on Facie, by text or email, phone me, Insta, come over … OMG. Just let me know how much … then I’ll come after you!
OR….
You can donate by going to my team page on the Hike for Hospice website and clicking on “Donate”. There you’ll find a little ditty that I wrote. After you read it, you can donate something by clicking on the blue button. Easy peasy. (Or you could go to the Hike for Hospice website and search for my team, but that’s unnecessary.)
OR…. Walk with me! Outta site!!! Now that would be so much fun …
Just go to my team page and rather than “donate”, click on “join team”. From there you choose the type of participant you want to be. You can just walk, add a donation, or you can set your own fundraising goal and then harass persuade some of your friends to give YOU money for Hospice. This way you can compete with me to see who can raise more money. (I am very competitive, just sayin’.) If you want to do that, just set a goal for fundraising, and make your own donation (I didn’t do this the first time and it took AGES to figure out how to donate, not just set a fundraising goal…)
The Final Comment
I don’t generally like to hit people up for money, but come on. I have cancer, it’s (going to be) my birthday, and Hospice is awesome. Please walk with me and / or make a small donation to a great organization!!
xoxoxo J
My bald head thanks you. And all of the other parts of my body do too, but my bald head is the most thankful for sure.
Yesterday was my mom’s 83rd birthday … and today we celebrated! Since one of her favourite flavours is lemon, I decided to whip up a light and not too sweet lemon chiffon cake for her. I found the recipe years ago in an LCBO magazine. Could be wrong. Likely am. Chiffon cake in an LCBO magazine? But the font looks right. Check it out. Am I wrong?
Is it bad when you can recognize an alcohol focused magazine from its font?
Moving on.
I posted a few pics of the cake a year or so ago, but I didn’t really pay homage to the cake in that post (it was mostly about my neighbour’s horrible fire). So here’s a wee bit more about the cake.
It is not very sweet. Therefore, folks who don’t generally partake in dessert tend to love this cake. Namely, my foggy friend. Hates sugar, eats the cake.
There three ingredients which you may not have just laying around your house:
A shit ton of eggs. 7 in the chiffon cake, 7 in the lemon topping. Be prepared.
3 lemons – for the rind and juice (oh, no, don’t use the bottled lemon juice. dear god).
A nice big hunk of white chocolate – making large and attractive curls is the best part of this whole enterprise. (Unless you’re like me and forget and end up using a little piece of white chocolate from the bulk food store…)
There’s a lot of folding. And folding is not the same as stirring. Seriously. You must fold. There’s a technique.
The topping takes a lot of time. It has to cook and cool completely before folding in the whipping cream. Be warned.
It’s dead easy to make the cake part. Prep a 9 or 10″ springform pan. Then prep 3 bowls worth of stuff: the dry, the eggy mixture, the egg whites. Done. A bit of stirring and whipping and folding and Bob’s your uncle. (I know, he is.)
Basic ingredients:
Normal stuff. And note the CANADIAN flour. Love that!!
Comes out like this:
Not that impressive, right now, I know.
It’s also dead easy to make the topping … you just cook it all on the stovetop. (Maybe plan to clean out your fridge while it cooks for the 15 minutes. It’s a really long time when you’re not otherwise engaged in a task.)
Once cooled, do the folding. Look at this technique…
Up and over, rotate bowl. Up and over, rotate bowl.
For the Cake: Butter and line 10" springform pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 325º.
Sift together flour, 1 cup of the sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
Separate eggs, placing yolks in a bowl and whites in a larger bowl. Whisk water, lemon juice, oil, grated lemon rind and vanilla into egg yolks.
Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture.
With an electric mixer, whisk egg whites until foamy. Beat in cream of tartar. Slowly whisk in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Take a large spoonful of egg whites and stir into flour mixture. Fold in the remaining whites.
Place batter in pan and bake for 50-60 minutes (until cake is golden brown, springs back when touched and a cake tester comes out clean). Cool in cake pan. Remove. Carefully cut into 3 layers with a serrated knife.
Lemon Filling / Frosting
Mix sugar, butter, lemon rind, lemon juice and eggs in a heavy pot. Stir gently over low heat until mixture is thick and coats the back of the spoon, about 15 minutes. You should be able todraw a path across the bottom of the pan.
Cool completely. Whip the whipping cream.
Stir one large spoonful into the curd to soften the mixture (important!! No lumps here, people!). Fold the remaining whipping cream in.
Spread a thin layer of lemon filling on each layer. Frost the top with more filling and smooth onto sides. Shave white chocolate all over top. Chill to harden lemon mixture.
This summer has been a banner year for blueberries – lots of blackflies in the Spring to pollinate, and lots of rain to help them grow. As a consequence I have been involved in several blueberry picking expeditions here at the lake. Each time I was out there I thought about blogging about it – it’s a fascinating activity, after all…
If you’ve never picked blueberries, read on. You might learn something about the sport art of blueberry picking. If you have, well, you’re not going to learn anything, but you might have flashbacks. Sorry.
It all starts when you pick up the elders others who are going to join you. Choose carefully. You must like them a lot, and they must either know “the code” or be able to pick up on “the code” without being told directly. (Ok, from now on just do air quotes whenever I say “the code”.) If they don’t know the code, you’re in for a very irritating experience. The two elders in this photo taught me the code, so they’re cool.
Liz & mom – experienced elders!
Then you have to go to the secret location. If it’s not secret, you’d better hope you’re first, otherwise, you’re pooched. The best berries will be long gone. After a few days of berry picking season, once others have also started, you really need to start to investigate the crown land (don’t ever pick on someone’s property, even if they’re related … picking someone else’s berries is tantamount to theft and you will go straight to hell). If your fellow pickers are a bit more lithe (under 65 is good) you can have them hop out of the boat and do a quick looksee. This is what you want them to see:
Blueberry bushes at the beginning of the season – we knew there was lots of good picking to come!
There needs to be a LOT of berries to make it worthwhile – or at least a reasonable amount of BIG berries – otherwise it’s not going to be a long berry picking session.
Note: Leave your phone in the boat or you will be treated as a teenager, chastised for being tethered to your phone (and the temptation to take photos will slowly overpower your will to keep picking, let’s face it…).
Once you’re out there picking, you’d better have a lot to think about, because it’s fucking boring as hell. It takes a LONG time to pick blueberries, even when they’re big. And if the boredom doesn’t get you, there are other things that will:
– the incessant chatter of the person close to you
– the fact that someone has come along and has started picking IN YOUR PATCH (this only happens with rookies) – when that happens, try not to lose your mind – just move on gracefully, you can be mature!
Everyone has a favourite picking container. Quart baskets do nicely. But no handle …
– the insidious heat (berries like the sun, and since part of the code is to wear long pants & shirts, shoes and a hat, you’re going to be dying)
– the ENORMOUS horseflies (ignore them or soon you’ll be thrashing about, increasing your body temp even more)
– the pain (deep squats or bending over happens approximately every 15 seconds. If you haven’t worked out in a few months/years/decades, you start daydreaming about laying in savasana.)
– dropping a berry that is PERFECT (do NOT search for it… omg such a rookie move)
– knocking over your entire basket (this can lead to weeping so don’t be stupid and set your basket on a rock … always wedge it in somewhere)
– hearing rustling in the bushes (a bear? a snake?) – do not use your imagination – consider the creature to be your competition and pick on
Throughout the berry picking there is often lively banter from patch to patch. Don’t be distracted from the fact that people are in a masterfully discreet competition. Best patch, most berries. Period. You have to FOCUS.
And for Christ’s sake, don’t step on the berries! (Crucial part of the code – almost forgot to tell you this…)
Once you think that you have suffered picked enough, it’s time to see if the others are feeling the same way WITHOUT ASKING THEM OUTRIGHT. Part of the code is that you don’t complain and you can’t be the one who has had enough. So this is a careful move. Pick your way back to the boat. If you’re with an elder, one of them will likely be there already. But if you’re with folks in your generation, you want to navigate this next step fairly carefully. Of course, you also need to have more berries than them, so keep that in mind. If you’ve got more, then just go for a skinny dip or check your phone (to make sure the kids are ok). Someone will eventually suggest it’s time to go. If there’s thunder, that’s a perfectly legitimate reason to leave. Anything other than that and you’re a wuss. If you haven’t got more, you might want to double back and top up your basket. Depends on what you’re made of.
Once you’re in the boat people invariably congratulate the best picker on their prowess (while secretly noting that they also have more leaves, red berries and stems in their basket).
Bottom of the boat comparison. Note the extra foliage in Paul’s basket. Demerit points. Just sayin’
And you leave.
After a skinny dip we’re cool and ready to head back.
Go back to the cottage, take note of the location – maybe even mark it on the lake map so that you remember for next year – and start “cleaning” the berries for eating, baking or the freezer.
When cleaning berries you have to pull out all of the purple & green berries, sticks, and leaves.This is the garbage that you have to pick out. It’s a total drag, actually.
And now you Bake Bake Bake! Here is one of my favorite things to bake with blueberries: blueberry crumb cake (with a shit ton of berries in it).
Pretty much the best blueberry cake I’ve had.
I have also made a LOT of blueberry muffins (see a previous post). They are the same flavor as the crumb cake – just not as many berries or as much sugar.
These are pretty much the perfect recipe. Check out the link to my older blog post for details.
My most recent discovery is bluberry boy bait (buttery and seriously amazing). At the time it was too amazing to take a photo of. Try it out!
Note that ALL of these recipes are from my fav blog, the smittenkitchen.
Today the kids are skiing a 1/2 day and I’m not skiing, as I’ve given my skis to Bree and haven’t managed to get a new pair yet. I’m enjoying watching and reminiscing. So when a friend’s boy asked me “do you come here often?” I had to grin. Oh, well ya …
I grew up coming to Devil’s Elbow on weekends. I think I was 3 1/2 when I was first put on skis. Day to day details are blurry but the general feel of those days remains firmly lodged in my subconscious. Long days. Early mornings. Tired kids. T-bars that lifted me off my feet. Racing. Friends. Dangerous and thrilling forest trails. Catching air on jumps. Puddles in March. Hoarded Mars bars hidden in ski jacket pockets till the time was right. It was an awesome childhood.
Lemme tell ya, it was WAY colder back then, and our clothing was NOT as warm. A chair in front of this fireplace was a coveting thing.
Mom and dad were both Ski Patrollers – they helped start up the Patrol at the Elbow, actually. Their dedicated volunteerism meant that we had to get here early and didn’t leave until the bitter end – after the last sweep, when patrollers would ensure that everyone was off the hills. We had the privilege of hanging out in the patrol hut and the knowledge that if WE skied like a Yeti we’d be in very serious trouble. We were victims on training days. It likely happened once, but my imagination has me being rescued from the chair lift every fall and in gale force winds.
Early days at the hill. Mom looking swank in her Patroller gear.
As I sit here getting things out of the lunch bag for the kids, I think of mom’s lunches. I think they were much heartier. Always carefully constructed sandwiches (maybe tuna salad …with lettuce even) and veggie sticks and fruit and cheese. We’d plan to meet at a certain time and damn nation if you were late! Invariably there was a family sized Fruit & Nut bar for dessert. Dad was in charge of portioning it out. I recall the methodical way he did it, smoothing out the wrapper just so and laying out the squares while we did the math. (The sweets were the highlights of the day of course.)
My lunches are whatever is floating around the fridge and cupboards. Haphazard. I don’t measure up. But the kids eat it all up!
We NEVER bought food from the cafeteria… Lou and I looked longingly at the crap our friends ate … the Vachon cakes … OMG. Joe Louis (chocolate, full circle) and Lune Moons (white, half circle) and the square ones with the raised caramel circle on top. PURE. ENVY. Of course I realize now that it was as equally a matter of economics as of health. The caf was and still is stupidly expensive. As Lou and I got older and had babysitting money we’d buy treats on the sly and eat the crap secretly and happily with our friends.
As I sit here writing and observing things and remembering, a bunch of kids are running through the chalet playing tag … shrieking and flinging themselves under tables. OMFG, if we did that we’d be dead!! Ok, we would never do that in the chalet because the owner, an older dude, Fred, would catch you and yell things and it would end very badly. So he’s obviously dead, but honest to god, how do these parents think that’s ok? IT’S. NOT. O.K. (put on a certain tone of voice here) In my day, kids were with families and then skied and if they didn’t ski, they were playing tag on snow banks by the parking lot but their parents THOUGHT they were skiing. We had very limited choices. Ski or be eating lunch. Or pee. Yes, we could do that.
Some things change and some things stay the same. Skiing is still an awesome thing to do with your kids … and it’s still a ton of work to pull off as a parent. And I will never sit in the chalet for 3 hours again. Pretty near killed me.
It’s a lovely thing to come to the lake in the winter. We drive as far in as we can then strap on our snowshoes and hike in a couple of kilometers to the Bell camp. This year we didn’t trust the lake so we went by road, dragging a couple of sleds behind us. The girls went ahead, helter skelter, dropping various things off of their sleds with nary a look behind them. Funny how they didn’t notice. By the time Paul and Liam and I got there, we were laden with bags that had fallen by the wayside. Next year, bungie cords.
The lake is dead quiet. Surreal in the lack of wind and waves and birds and children hooting as they get dragged behind a boat.
We hike in the woods when the ice seems too thin for comfort. We wander around our friends’ cottages. There are snow fights and icicle finds. We are overdressed but grateful for it all.
Inside, it’s so cozy. We all have our books (paper or otherwise) and some have a project – a puzzle, sudoku or a pair of socks to work on. Charades.
Of course lots of great food – and baking is a sure bet with me in the cabin! I get to create all sorts of yummy things – cinnamon buns and cookies and tea biscuits. For dessert tonight is a banana cake. I forgot the ingredients for the topping so I have had to improvise with ice cream bowls, marshmallows, chocolate and pecans. Result? YUM!
At the dinner table we always share a “highlight of the day”. This December we’ve had so many highlights. Here are a few:
Oyster Bay Chardonnay from NZ and Sanders caramels from Costco.
Perfect pairing.
I solicited the help of a wee kindie to assist in making a sample piece of artwork for our craft day next Friday. She was all painted up and gleeful to be in the P office on the rolling chair. I just love the positive energy of the little ones. “I can do it missakenzie!” when I was about to squirt some paint into a tray, and afterwards, shrieking “the soap is green!” when washing the green paint off of her hands. Joyful moments.
So proud.
A follow-up a call from the receptionist at my Endodontist. She told me that she worked something out. What? What do you mean? Well, I wanted to do something, so I … let me just work this out … instead of $2505.00 per tooth… it will be $1791.00. Um … what?? Why would you do that?
“I just wanted to do something.”
I have no idea if how she managed to do it. How she might have approached her boss and explained our situation – with Bree not able to be on my medical plan and the Healthy Smiles program not covering repairs on root canals. ‘It takes a village to raise a child’.
My staff coming together time and again to make school an awesome place for the kids – so much evidence of their efforts in December! Happy kids performing at our outdoor Christmas Concert, kids participating in a full day of creative crafting, sledding sessions on the hill, the creation of gorgeous center pieces, spirit days, secret Santa … the list goes on and on. For me it all comes down to my staff. They are willing to pull together and go the extra mile for the kids. And it shows.
Each year our good friends Michael and Deborah invite us over to decorate Christmas cookies and share a meal. They make a point of inviting different families to participate each year. This year they invited the Syrian family that they’ve been sponsoring. It was a lovely afternoon and I was grateful that my children had the opportunity to connect with Nour and Hashem and their children.
Our future.
My brother is home from his work gig in the U.K. It was the first time in eons that all three of us were together for Christmas. So special!
I heard a while back that creating lists actually reduces stress, and that if you have trouble sleeping, you should make a list right before you go to bed so that the ‘list’ won’t be swimming around in your head all night. I think it’s a bunch of bunk because a few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night with lists swimming a marathon through the grey matter, got up, wrote a small novella, went back to bed and woke up with hives. What’s my learning from that? I make smaller, more manageable lists, not ones that encompass every aspect of my life: work, kids, meals, birthdays, chores, appointments. Today I present to you my very reasonable list.
As you can see, this blog entry is part of the list … since I have to blog in order to cross of two other items. Huh? Well here it is: Last week I wrote a letter to my cousin’s daughter Tessa who is 5, super cute and will likely be thrilled to get a letter in the mail. I added in photos of what we were doing that night. I mailed it the next day knowing full well that when she got it her younger brother James might freak out because there wasn’t one for him … so I’ve been planning his letter which I’ve decided will be all about Liam (my 12 year old) who he adores. Since I love technology (read: I have a problem), I took a vid of Liam at drumming lessons and made a QR code for the letter so that when James’s mom or dad scan it with their phone, it takes James to this blog page and this video of Liam. Clever, I know. LOL
So here’s Liam at his lesson last week. Playing along to Toxicity. Jaunty tune… HOPE YOU LOVE IT JAMES!
After creating a QR code and finishing the letter I will tackle the knitting tasks … since I can watch Netflix while I do that (I’m binge watching Lie to Me right now. I think it will become very handy when questioning kids about incidents at school. “Did you throw that snowball? See there, that’s a lie.”)
I love to knit! My favourite projects are generally small things – socks, scarves, mittens – since they are done relatively quickly. At this time in the year I’m mending 2 pr of mittens and finishing up a third. Here they are:
Bird in the Hand pattern – so much damage to the top of this mitten that I ripped it back and am redoing the top.
Started using this pattern back in 1990 or so. These mitts are approx. 25 years old!
After that will be the Halloween costumes. I have a pink taffeta bridesmaid dress that I wore in 1989 that I’m going to turn into a tooth fairy costume. Liam plans to be Nathan Drake. Whoever the hell that is. I’ll post the shots of those costumes later on!
Rather than our typical Thanksgiving traditions at the lake, all of the fam and extended fam are in Toronto for my cousin’s big-ass wedding. So here I am, writing on my iPad on a Sunday morning in a semi-dark hotel room while Paul is at the gym and the kids are still sleeping.
Being a mom is always busy, but being a mom when you’re going on a trip of any sort, kicks it up a notch. So much to consider – so much to pack – so little time. So yesterday morning, in preparation for a weekend of city, and as a way to get my chi back after packing (and re-packing) for the kids plus myself, I took a long relaxing walk with the dog – in the rain, no less. Felt awesome!! I love walking through the bush as the colors are changing. The light is magnificent, and with the rain, it smelled magnificent too! I really need to do that more often. Maybe every day. (Ya right.)
Baked up a batch of banana oat muffins for the hotel room while watching a little Grey’s (while doing some laundry and cleaning up so that the house is in some semblance of order for our return). We made it out by 1 … put Bree in the middle as a strategy for world peace, then a quick pit stop at Chapters to get a card (oops, forgot that!) and the obligatory book for each passenger (who can go on a trip without a book?). It wasn’t a quick pit stop, but lots of fun. Paul’s book was a baking magazine for me lol. Of course Starbucks was involved and that rounded out the preparations. Who isn’t happier with a chai tea latte?
Arrived in Toronto, checked in to our gorgeous hotel and headed out to explore. Hit Bloor Street and got some deals at the Gap. We also watched a lady boldly walk right out the front door of a store with a $200 jacket. Unreal how that happens. The employees are essentially powerless. Makes me wonder how some people can have no morals.
After considerable discussion about the definition of ‘smart casual’, Paul and I, my sibs and my mom headed up to join other immediate fam for the rehearsal dinner – atop the hotel – good eats, great people! (Many of whom flew from Oz, Ireland and the UK.) The kids ate dinner with their cousins at a restaurant on Bloor, but managed to pop in for dessert because they’re smart that way. Liam was first up to the mic after formal speeches, relaxing everyone who were considering if they had the courage to say something. His speech went something like this: “Hi. I’m Liam, I’m 12 and I’m not supposed to be here – so this is a bit ‘under the table’… (long pause)… everyone clap.” Hilarious. Stole the show.
Toronto skyline. Not exactly what I’m used to…
Tokay is Wedding Day! Stay tuned! We’ll be off to Casa Loma once we visit the ROM. Guess I’d better get the kids out of bed… (but it’s so peaceful!!!)
Tip: don't use white glue.
Each year our good friends Michael and Deborah invite us over to decorate Christmas cookies and share a meal. They make a point of inviting different families to participate each year. This year they invited the Syrian family that they’ve been sponsoring. It was a lovely afternoon and I was grateful that my children had the opportunity to connect with Nour and Hashem and their children.
