Happy anniversary to me!

It's hard to believe it's been a year since I wrote my first post. My friend, Angie, had a blog and it seemed like a cool idea. I wasn't sure what it was going to be about ... except that it was going to be about me.

The reason people blog is interesting. For some, it's a creative outlet. For others, it's a place to put their thoughts, hidden from anyone who knows them. For many, it's their day-to-day rants and happenings. Others use it as a place to do quizzes and memes and book reviews and hunk alerts!

For me, it's a place to have fun, post whatever catches my fancy and meet interesting people. Thanks to everyone for having such fun blogs that I check out every day and letting me peek inside your lives!

Book ~ "Twelve Sharp" - Janet Evanovich (2006)

From Amazon.com ~ The mixture of slapstick and gunplay that has put Evanovich's series about a sassy, less than competent New Jersey bounty hunter at the top of bestseller lists once again works its magic in Stephanie Plum's latest caper. Stephanie, who freely admits her failings as a hunter of fugitives, faces a growing work backlog that threatens the continued existence of her job. Her clumsy efforts to clear some cases, along with the help of her outrageous colleague, Lula, result only in their adding another sad sack to the office payroll — a forlorn shoe salesman who's talked off a ledge by Stephanie's offer of a position as file clerk. Stephanie's ambivalence toward the two men in her life becomes harder to maintain when one of them, the mysterious Ranger, is accused of kidnapping his own daughter.

Loved it! She is my favorite author. The bad thing about finishing it is that I'll have to wait another year for the next one :(

Sailin' on a Sunday Afternoon

Gord and I went on the Kajama, a 165' three masted schooner, this afternoon with Single Horizons.

Kajama

Me and LeeAnn,
owner of Single Horizons

My friend, Yvette, went too. It had been a while since I'd seen her so it was good to catch up.

Me and Yvette

Me and Gord

It was a gorgeous day to be on the water ... sunny and not too hot. 

Downtown Toronto from the west end of the Harbour

After the cruise, Gord, Yvette and I went to one of our (Gord's and mine) fav patios which is at the Raddisson Hotel. We enjoyed the view as Gord had a drink.

Then Gord and I walked back home (about a 30 minute walk each way).

Live Theatre ~ "South Pacific", Stratford

A new spirit of love and tolerance rises from the ashes of warNellie Forbush, a U.S. Navy nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas, is stationed on a remote island in the South Pacific during World War II. There she meets and falls in love with Emile de Becque, a wealthy French plantation owner. Meanwhile, U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Joseph Cable, on a secret mission for the U.S. government, finds his way to the mystical Polynesian isle of Bali Ha’i. There he meets and falls in love with Liat, the beautiful daughter of local character Bloody Mary. Sadly, racial prejudice creates obstacles for both romances. Nellie discovers Emile has two half-caste children from a previous marriage and breaks her engagement. Similarly, Cable can’t bring himself to marry his lover, Liat, because she is Tonkinese. Before any of this can be resolved, Cable joins forces with Emile and sets out on a dangerous spy mission. Cable is ultimately killed; his death brings Nellie to her senses, and she puts aside her prejudice for true love.

Gord and I took the train to Stratford (a two hour ride) and saw South Pacific today. The whole Stratford experience is such a lovely one. We both enjoy the train ride and it's nice not having to worry about the hassle of traffic.

We got to Stratford just before 1:00 and had a drink at the Falstaff Pub.

Then we headed to the play, which was good. It was surprising how many songs we recognized (I"m Gonna Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair, Some Enchanted Evening, etc.).

After the play, we took a walk along Avon River ...

There are lots of benches with dedications along the River. Here's Gord's favorite:

Dedicated to the dream of sitting here with you,
hand in hand, one more time.

There were some baby swans and ducks.

We had supper at the Boar's Head Pub. We stopped off at the Dominion House for a drink to wait for our train back to Toronto.

Success Strategies for Internet and Email Marketing Course

Web and email marketing are crucial to your business success in today’s highly competitive environment. But are your Internet marketing efforts really delivering the kind of results you need? Most organizations are only tapping into a fraction of what interactive marketing can do. That’s why this course is so important to you and your organization.

I'm in this course today ... it ends tomorrow afternoon. It's presented by Dave of the National Seminars Group. Dave's out of Richmond, BC, and this course is run all over North America.

Today we focused on how to send out effective sales and marketing emails. I found it very interesting and learned a lot.

Book ~ "Dispatches From The Poverty Line" - Pat Capponi (1997)

From Chapters.ca ~ Pat Capponi’s life has been spent moving between two very different worlds. As a survivor of child abuse, psychiatric illness, and periods of unemployment, she has become intimately familiar with the marginalized world of the sick, the powerless, and the poor. As a social activist, counseller, Crown employee, and author of the highly praised memoir, Upstairs in the Crazy House, she has moved through the world of the affluent and powerful. Now, in the era of downsizing, she, like so many others, has become a victim of budget cuts. Unemployed, long past the end of her benefits, she finds herself once again not just working with the poor but joining their ranks. In the winter of 1996, she began a journal of the effect that conservative fiscal and social policy was having on people like herself.

I'd read this book and Upstairs in the Crazy House in the spring of 1998 when I was volunteering at a distress centre that she was on the board of at that time.

Look out, Buffalo!

Yes, Gord is on the go again ... this time he's off to Buffalo. He and his childhood pals, Alfred, Craig and Kevin, will be there for the weekend. They are going to start tomorrow morning off with a round of golf just outside of Toronto and then head on down the highway to Buffalo.

Like last weekend, he is going to be catching some ball games and having some fun. No doubt there will be a couple beer consumed.

And you know what that means? Another weekend of Teena-time! Whoohoo!

Oh, sorry, Gord, I mean ... I'll miss you, hunny! I'll pine for you! I'll be blue without you!

A call for help

September 11, 2006 will mark the 5-year anniversary of the attacks that killed 2,996 innocent people.

D. Challenger Roe would like 2,995 blogging volunteers to help him with a tribute to the victims of 9/11. If you’d like to participate, you’ll be assigned the name of someone who was killed on September 11, 2001. Then on September 11, 2006, you’ll post your own tribute to that person. It can be anything you want it to be ... a photo tribute, an essay, a remembrance, a poem … it’s up to you. Then link back to a page he will create which will give the names of all 2,996 victims and links to the blogs that will remember them that day.

Pinwheel Afghan

I finished the pinwheel afghan tonight. Yay!

I guess Morgan likes it!

It's bigger than it looks - it's a weird camera angle

Book ~ "Fired Up! : How the Best of the Best Survived and Thrived After Getting the Boot" - Harvey MacKay (2005)

From Amazon.com ~ Everyone loves a comeback and sometimes failure is the best education. That is the theme of this collection of interviews with 28 successful and famous people from all walks of life who, at one time or another, have been fired. Career and business writer, Mackay, shows a remarkable ability to get highly visible people to open up and reveal their dark past. He begins with a conversation with Donald "You're Fired!" Trump, who never actually lost a job per se but came back from being billions in debt for perhaps the greatest personal rebound in financial history. Bernie Marcus was fired from a job as manager of the Handy Dan Home Improvement Center, a chain of 66 stores, but he ultimately extracted sweet revenge by founding Home Depot. Mackay gets an interview with Muhammad Ali, who lost his title when he chose to become a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War. It is surprising to learn the difficult beginnings of such notables as Robert Redford, Larry King, Billie Jean King, and Michael Bloomberg.

Most of the stories are interesting.

Sunday morning at the beach

KC and I slept in 'til 10 this morning. Then we bounced out of bed and headed for the beach!

I love the beach! The closest one to us, Sunnyside Beach, is about a ten minute drive. Though the water isn't all that clean (people do swim in it ... I wouldn't), it's still a nice place to walk. Today it was about 15C when we started out. The water wasn't all that cold.

We started just east of Sunnyside Pavillion ...

We started on the other side of this white building(Sunnyside Pavillion) and headed west

... and walked to the Humber River and back.

Humber River is where the twin buildings are(there's Sunnyside Pavillion to the right)

From the other side of the Humber River

looking at Sunnyside Pavillion (the white building) ...

look how far we walked!

There was lots going on at Sunnyside Beach!

KC on Sunnyside Beach

Ducks, swans and seagulls ... no babies yet

Look out for the cranky swan, KC!

This is unusual as KC usually doesn't usually go near the water

A man balancing rocks

Beach volleyballers

The patio was busy

Engagement pictures

Rowing clubs

Home again, freshly bathed and tired

Woofstock

Woofstock is the largest outdoor festival for dogs - and the people who live with them. Quirky and fun, Woofstock is a free admission, festive entertainment and consumer show which takes place in The Historic St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood District.

I've been wanting to check out Woofstock for the last couple years but something has always come up. So today was the day! They shut down Front Street between Jarvis and Church downtown and there are tons of tents set up on the street so you can buy anything you could ever need for your dog from treats to clothes to day care to leashes to jewellery and lots more.

Whatever you want is here

There was even doggysitting if you want todrop off your dog while you shop

I didn't buy anything for KC because she's very fussy about what she eats and she'd be embarrassed to wear anything frilly. Though many owners took their dogs, I didn't take KC because she would have been way too cranky with so many dogs sniffing her butt. Here are some of the dogs I saw ...

In a pink tutu and a bow to match

Cool shades and barrettes

Dressed to the nines with pink hair
and an even more colourful owner

A colourful sundress

In a stroller

Gotta have the pink polka dots and matching bow

Kayaking on Humber River

I've never been kayaking before. Sister Sarah and her husband do in Halifax so I've been wanting to try it. Single Horizons had a kayak event this morning so I checked it out.

We went down the Humber River towards Lake Ontario. The plan was to keep on kayaking to Sunnyside Beach but it was too rough. So instead, we stopped just before we hit the Lake and walked back to our cars (about a 20 minute walk) because it was too rough to paddle back up the River.

It was fun to try it. I was nervous at first until I got my balance. I had a hard time turning so have to work on that. It was a great way to start the day!

Look out, Toledo!

Gord has two sets of friends who he goes away with every year.

This weekend he is off with Malcolm, Rick and Sox. They left this morning and will spend tonight in Windsor. And then head to Toledo tomorrow for a couple days. They'll come back on Sunday.

They take in a few minor league baseball games, party and have fun.

For me, it's a chance to have some Teena-time. Whoohoo!!!

Book ~ "Death in the Queen City: Clara Ford on Trial, 1895" - Patrick Brode (2006)

From Indigo.ca ~ In 1895, Clara Ford, a penniless Black woman, was put on trial for murdering a young white man from one of the city's most prominent families. Viewed as a most unusual person, a tough, revolver-toting woman who often wore men's clothing, Clara Ford defied the norms of the Victorian ideal of womanhood. Believed to have been influenced by her earlier life in the United States, Clara provided flamboyant daily fodder for Toronto's six daily newspapers, whose journalists covered every detail, even drawing the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Interesting story that happened in the neighbourhood just west of us. It's too bad the author's writing was very boring.

Old York, Toronto, ON

We got home this afternoon and Ken caught a bus home to Hamilton.

Gord and I walked over to the Wellington Pub for supper. He had the meatloaf and I had curried chicken. Both were good, though the curried chicken is overpriced for what you get.

Then we stopped on our way home at the Old York for a drink. The Old York has a great patio and has the second oldest liquor license in Toronto.

Congrats, Kyle and Kerri

Gord's nephew (his sister's son), Kyle, got married today. Ken, Gord's son, arrived last night (he lives in Hamilton) and the three of us headed down this afternoon (about 2.5 hours from Toronto so we'll be spending the night at Gord's parents').

Kerri, the bride, is Catholic and the wedding was in her church in Marmora. The priest gave a wacky rambling sermon and one of the pieces of advice he gave them was that marriage is not a beer commercial. Um ... okay.

The reception was in Madoc (where Kyle is from). The bride and groom (and most of the guests) are really into country music and that's what the DJ played a lot off. Surprisingly it wasn't too bad even though I was the DD so wasn't drinking.

The bride and groom, Kerri and Kyle

"Aunty" Scotty (who is actually Gord's father's cousin's wife),

Minnie (Gord's mom) and Keith (Gord's stepfather)

Minnie and Keith

(Gord's mom and stepdad and the groom's grandparents)

Ken (Gord's son) and Gord

Ken (Gord's son), Teena and Gord

Judy (Gord's sister and mother of the groom) and Teena

Ken (Gord's son) boogying with his grandmother (Gord's mom)

Gord and Judy (his sister and mother of the groom)