Happy birthday, Rick!

Gord's friend, Rick, is 53 today and invited us to his birthday party at the Brogue Inn in Port Credit.

Here's Gord in front of the pub ...

Gord, Rick, Malcolm and Sox met in a baseball fantasy pool about 20 years ago. For the last 15 years, they've been going away for a guys weekend every year (in a couple weeks they are heading to Buffalo ... look out Buffalo!).

Here are Malcolm and his wife, Mary ...

And Malcolm, Rick and Mary ...

I had curried chicken ... it was really strong on the curry.

Gord's fish and chips were good.

Here are Rick and his daughters, Jamie and Andy ...

And Rick and his girlfriend, Maggie ...

There were two tables of us ...

Of course, there was cake!

Here's Rick enthusiastically thanking everyone for coming ...

And what's a birthday without a shooter or two?!

Go Train conversation

Gord and I took the GO train to Port Credit this evening ... it was faster than driving (20 minutes) and we didn't have to worry about drinking and driving. Plus we love love love being on a train.

When we got to Mimico station, I mentioned to Gord that I'd considered buying a bungalow in Mimico before I bought our condo.

The older fella sitting across from us mentioned that he used to live in Mimico many years ago in a nice apartment overlooking the lake. I asked him where he lives now ... and he said in a homeless shelter in Hamilton.

Oh ...

He then told us he once had been a multi-millionaire. He said he is working on a project to help the homeless and would once again be rich.

At this point, I thought that it was either a really hard luck story or the guy was delusional (he seemed okay, though).

Then he told us about a $1.5 million dollar painting he has stashed in a church in Hamilton that no one knows about (otherwise he wouldn't be able to live in a homeless shelter). He'd recently met a fella in a foodcourt in a mall who was going to lend him $65,000 against the painting to get his project going.

Um, okay ...

And he'd gotten a letter from Mother Theresa.

Er ...

And he'd soon be hanging out with President Obama and his painting would hang in the White House.

Sure ...

He plans on including his four adult kids in the project. His sons were already multi-millionaires ... he's taught them everything he knows.

We got to the Port Credit station and we wished him well!

I miss working downtown

After the Pension & Benefits Summit was over, I met Gord for lunch (he works a couple blocks from where the conference was held).

The park next to where he works was jammed with kids so we sat on a short wall on King Street W.

It was a nice surprise to see Trish happen by. She stopped and spent her lunch break with us.

Here are she and I ...

It's been a while since I've seen her so it was great to catch up.

And here are Gord and I ...

Bâton Rouge Restaurant and Bar, Toronto, ON

The Fab Five met for supper tonight at Bâton Rouge in the Eaton Centre.

Here we are ... Susan, me, Julie, Laura and Jen.

We work together until 2007 ... Julie, Jen and Susan are still with the company (Laura left a couple weeks ago).

I ordered Bâton Rouge Chicken Tenders Platter (chicken tenders made fresh to order, battered and deep-fried to golden perfection. Served with their own BBQ and Dijonnaise dipping sauces).

It's a big meal and I couldn't eat it all ... I left some mashed potatoes and batter.

Great to get together and catch up!

Pork Tenderloin with Lime-Beer Marinade

I made Pork Tenderloin with Lime-Beer Marinade for supper ... I found the recipe on CanadianLiving.com. Gord has made it a couple times too.

Ta-da ... just about to take it off the grill!

I let it marinade for about 20 hours and BBQed it on low for about 45 minutes.

It was delicious!

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup (125 mL) beer
1/3 cup (75 mL) lime juice
2 clove garlic cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp(25 mL) minced fresh parsley
1 1tsp (5 mL) chili powder
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cumin
1/4 (1 mL) ground coriander
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
2 pork tenderloins, (about 12 oz/375 g each)

In large bowl, whisk together beer, lime juice, garlic, parsley, chili powder, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Add pork; turn to coat. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 4 hours.

Place pork on greased grill over medium-high heat; brush with any remaining marinade. Close lid and grill, turning occasionally, until just a hint of pink remains inside, about 18 minutes.

Transfer to cutting board; tent with foil and let stand for 5 minutes. Slice and serve.

Fort York Military Burying Ground

On our walk back from Coronation Park, KC and I cut through the Military Burying Ground at Fort York.

This was Toronto's third military cemetery. Buried there are soldiers, veterans, their wives and children who died between 1862 and 1911. A majority died from natural causes like asthma, consumption and aneurisms but many had drowned. Most burials took place before 1870, when the British army turned Fort York over to the Canadian military and returned home.

In 1970, the Toronto Historical Board mounted surviving markers in a brick wall.

It's interesting to see the remnants of old Toronto against the more modern Toronto.

Coronation Park

Today is a vacation day for me.

And what better way to start it than to take KC for a long walk?!

We walked to Coronation Park and back (about 4km).

KC had a fun time running around. There she goes ...

There are just a few boats out at the yacht club.

New this year to the park is an off leash area for dogs in the SE corner.

Remembering my father

My father died 39 years ago today.

I was 8 years old. He was 36 years old.

He was in the navy and was on sick leave because he'd recently had a heart attack. My mother worked afternoons and evenings.

I came home from school and found him sleeping on the kitchen floor.

I went outside to play, as usual.

When all the other kids were called in for supper, I went in and found him still sleeping on the kitchen floor.

I tried to wake him up ... but he wouldn't wake up.

We lived in an apartment house and I went to Margaret, who lived in another apartment, and told her I couldn't wake up my daddy.

She went down to our place to check it out.

Alas, he never woke up again.

Guess who went to the doggy spa today!

KC!

Alas, she doesn't enjoy going to the spa as much as Gord and I.

Book ~ "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl" (2008) Shauna Reid

From Amazon ~ At just twenty-three years old, Shauna Reid weighed 351 pounds. Spurred into action by the sight of her enormous white knickers billowing on the clothesline, she created the hugely successful blog "The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl." Hiding behind her Lycra-clad, roly-poly alter-ego, her transformation from couch potato to svelte goddess began.

Today, eight thousand miles, seven years, and 175 pounds later, the gloriously gorgeous Shauna is literally half the woman she used to be. Hysterically funny and heart-wrenchingly honest, The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl includes travel tales from Australia to Paris to Red Square, plus romance when she meets the man of her dreams in a Scottish pub. This is the uplifting true story of a young woman who defeated her demons and conquered her cravings to become a real-life superhero to inspire us all.

My pal, Angie, had recommended this book. I enjoyed it too.

I like reading books like this ... I find them inspirational.

It drove me nuts because she was so down on herself ... so I was happy to see that she's finally made peace with her weight loss and eat habits.

I'm married to a gold medal fencer!

Gord went to Waterloo today to fence in the Ontario Challenge Circuit Finals.

He won a gold metal in the veterans (age 40+) sabre event.

Gord is on the right along with the silver and bronze (there are two) winners.

Yay, Gord!

Collapsed wall at Yonge/Gould

Last Friday at noon, the wall of a building at Yonge/Gould collapsed.

Thankfully no one was hurt.

Yonge Street in that area was shut down for days and businesses were closed.

I checked it out this afternoon.

One of the northbound lanes of Yonge Street is still closed.

It's got to suck for the businesses that are still closed ... no revenue coming for who knows how long.

Date Night

I was in the mood to see a movie this afternoon so saw Date Night.

Phil and Claire Foster are a couple who have been married for several years. Their days consists of them taking care of their children and going to work and coming home and going to bed. But they find time to have a date night wherein they go out and spend some time together. When another couple they know announce that they're separating because they're in a rut, Phil feels that he and Claire could be too. So when date night comes Phil decides to do something different. So they go into the city and try to get into a new popular restaurant. But when it's full and still wanting to do this, Phil decides to take the reservation of a couple who doesn't show up. While they're having dinner two men approach them and instructs them to stand up and go with them. They think the men are with the restaurant and want to talk to them about taking someone else's reservation. But it appears the couple whose reservation they took crossed someone and the two men work for this person. The men are after something but whatever it is they don't have it.

It has gotten great reviews so I was looking forward to seeing it.

I thought it was okay. It was funny and light.

It will be a good renter.

Pat's Homestyle Jamaican Restaurant, Toronto, ON

Lunch time!

I stopped at Pat's Homestyle Jamaican Restaurant on Queen Street W.

I ordered a chicken roti.

There was so much chicken, potatoes and chickpeas that it was exploding!

It was good and I ate it all.

I must say, though, that I felt like I was inconveniencing the server by placing an order. He was sitting on a chair in the back, partially hidden by a fridge. I had to call to get his attention.

MissBehav'N

Walking along Queen W this afternoon, I saw the ladies were performing in the windows at MissBehav'N.

It is the weekend show.

The reaction from men passing by is funny. Some dance along with the girls. Others blatantly stare. And others pretend not to be looking while peeking.

Transforming lives at CAMH continues

And the demolition continues at CAMH.

The buildings on Queen W are now gone.

Looking north, you can now see the corner of Ossington/Queen W ...

And the NE corner ...

Looking south from the corner of Ossington/Queen W. This used to be the entrance to the admin building.

No Pardon for Karla Homolka

To: National Parole Board of Canada

Stop Karla Homolka a.k.a. LEANNE TEALE from receiving a pardon.

If you agree that this person should never be granted a pardon for her part in the heinous crime commited by her and her husband Paul Bernardo, then please sign this petition.

This petition will be forwarded to the National Parole Board of Canada when 5000 signatures have been obtained.

Sincerely,
The Undersigned