Liberty Village Rotisserie Grill, Toronto, ON

After conducting two enrolment seminars today, I drove home from Windsor this afternoon.

It started raining after I hit London so it was a longer slower wetter drive.

By the time I got home five hours later, I was exhausted so stopped off at Liberty Village Rotisserie Grill, which is in our 'hood, to pick up some supper for Gord and I.

Since May, it has new owners (it used to be called Rotisserie House). This is the first time we've tried it since the change in ownership. Some of the less popular Portuguese items the former owners had on the menu are gone. They have been replace with fish tacos, chicken poutine, etc.

I got us each a half chicken dinner with rice and potatoes. Here's mine ... I got extra hot sauce on mine (Gord didn't want any sauce).

Everything was delicious! The chicken was so tender. I love potatoes done like this! The rice with the sauce was good.

We're definitely going to have it check it out more often.

Hilton Windsor, Windsor, ON

I have a couple seminars to conduct tomorrow in Windsor. The first one is at 10:15am so I drove to Windsor this afternoon (it's a four plus hour drive from Toronto).

Here's my room ...

The view from my window when I checked in about 6pm was gorgeous ... the sun was setting on Detroit (I'm on the 16th floor).

Here are the same views when I got back from supper (about 9pm).

WIFI is free (in this day and age, I hate it when hotels charge for it).

Parking is odd. You can park your car yourself in the back for $10. Or you can have it valet parked for $21 (they take it away to the same spot you would have parked it but charge you $11 more). Or if you are lucky enough, you can leave it in front of the hotel and it's only $15 but you have to pay cash. Huh?!

It's a about six blocks from the casino. I stopped in and played roulette after supper. I lost $40 and that was enough for me. I'm soooo not a gambler! There are tons and tons and tons of slot machines (I find them boring).

Papa Cheney's, Windsor, ON

I asked the fella at the front desk of the hotel I'm staying in where he'd suggest I have supper ... I was craving a pub.

He recommended Papa Cheney's a couple blocks away.

This evening the special was all the wings and/or ribs you can eat for $18. I was craving wings ... a dozen cost $16 so it made sense to get the all you can eat special. So that's what I got. It came with six wings, six ribs, fries, carrots and celery and beans with bacon.

The wings were okay. I'm not a fan of breaded wings ... I like 'em deep-fried and then tossed in sauce. I got them with medium sauce and they had a good kick to them. I'm not a fan of beans but did try them. The fries were really good (tossed with salt). The ribs were the best part ... the sauce was also medium but peppery.

I could have had as many platters as I wanted but I found one was enough ... I didn't finish what I had.

The pub was quiet ... not surprising for a Monday night.

My server was Chandalle and she took good care of me.

Boston Pizza, Hamilton, ON

Steve and I had a client meeting in Hamilton this afternoon.

We met for lunch beforehand at Boston Pizza on Main Street W.

Steve ordered the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (breaded chicken breast filet tossed in hot sauce served on a toasted French-style bun with lettuce, tomato and their creamy garlic parmesan sauce) with sweet potato fries. He said it was okay ... it didn't look overly exciting.

I had Chicken Parmesan (a tender chicken breast breaded and fried until golden brown. Topped with pomodoro sauce and pizza mozzarella then baked to perfection. Served with your choice of side dish and garlic toast) with spaghetti. It was so-so.

The service was fair. It seemed to take a while for our meals to come. Plus our server seemed a bit frazzled. For example, I ordered a Diet Pepsi and she brought iced tea.

Sunday afternoon nap

They make napping look so easy!

Book ~ "Playground" (2011) 50 Cent

From Penquin Canada~ Thirteen-year-old Butterball doesn't have much going for him. He's teased about his weight. He hates the Long Island suburb his mom moved them to so she could go to nursing school and start her life over. He wishes he still lived with his dad in New York City - where there's always something happening, even if his dad doesn't have much time for him.

Still, that's not why he beat up Maurice on the playground.

Now his school is forcing him to talk to some out-of-touch lady therapist, as though she could ever fix him - as though she could ever figure out the truth. No, Butterball's lips are sealed about what happened that day. But some tales can't help being told. And this is one of them.

Inspired by 50 Cent's own adolescence, Playground is a hard-hitting and inspirational story of the redemption of a bully.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. The voice of the story is Butterball, a 13 year old overweight black kid who is just trying to fit in. He thinks his mother is selfish and only making decisions to better her life without any regard to his. He worships his dad who lives in the city and, unbeknownst to Butterball, is not the best dad.

After getting into a fight, Butterball has to see a therapist twice a week so he can resolve his issues. Butterball feels that "Old Liz" isn't hip enough to know what's going on but he either has to see her or get kicked out of school.

I wasn't sure what the end would bring ... would it be happy or tragic? You're going to have to read it to find out.

It's considered a "young adult" book but I found the writing style and content mature. Yes, the main character is only 13 but the language is strong (there is graphic swearing) and there is violence (batteries in socks are used in fights).

If your child is fairly mature, they will be able to handle it ... it's not something they won't see in movies today (as I was reading it, I could envision it being made into a movie). If you are trying to shield your child from some realities of today, then you shouldn't let them read this.

I received a copy of this ebook at no charge in exchange for my honest review. 

Book ~ "Natural Order" (2011) Brian Francis

From Amazon ~ Joyce Sparks has lived the whole of her 86 years in the small community of Balsden, Ontario. “There isn’t anything on earth you can’t find your own backyard,” her mother used to say, and Joyce has structured her life accordingly. Today, she occupies a bed in what she knows will be her final home, a shared room at Chestnut Park Nursing Home where she contemplates the bland streetscape through her window and tries not to be too gruff with the nurses.

This is not at all how Joyce expected her life to turn out. As a girl, she’d allowed herself to imagine a future of adventure in the arms of her friend Freddy Pender, whose chin bore a Kirk Douglas cleft and who danced the cha-cha divinely. Though troubled by the whispered assertions of her sister and friends that he was “fruity,” Joyce adored Freddy for all that was un-Balsden in his flamboyant ways. When Freddy led the homecoming parade down the main street, his expertly twirled baton and outrageous white suit gleaming in the sun, Joyce fell head over heels in unrequited love.

Years later, after Freddy had left Balsden for an acting career in New York, Joyce married Charlie, a kind and reserved man who could hardly be less like Freddy. They married with little fanfare and she bore one son, John. Though she did love Charlie, Joyce often caught herself thinking about Freddy, buying Hollywood gossip magazines in hopes of catching a glimpse of his face. Meanwhile, she was growing increasingly alarmed about John’s preference for dolls and kitchen sets. She concealed the mounting signs that John was not a “normal” boy, even buying him a coveted doll if he promised to keep it a secret from Charlie.

News of Freddy finally arrived, and it was horrifying: he had killed himself, throwing himself into the sea from a cruise ship. “A mother always knows when something isn’t right with her son,” was Mrs. Pender’s steely utterance when Joyce paid her respects, cryptically alleging that Freddy’s homosexuality had led to his destruction. That night, Joyce threatened to take away John’s doll if he did not join the softball team. Convinced she had to protect John from himself, she set her small family on a narrow path bounded by secrecy and shame, which ultimately led to unimaginable loss.

Today, as her life ebbs away at Chestnut Park, Joyce ponders the terrible choices she made as a mother and wife and doubts that she can be forgiven, or that she deserves to be. Then a young nursing home volunteer named Timothy appears, so much like her long lost John. Might there be some grace ahead in Joyce’s life after all?

Voiced by an unforgettable and heartbreakingly flawed narrator, Natural Order is a masterpiece of empathy, a wry and tender depiction of the end-of-life remembrances and reconciliations that one might undertake when there is nothing more to lose, and no time to waste.

I liked the writing style of this book. It was quick and drew me into the story.

I wasn't crazy about the way the story bounced around, though, about Joyce's life. I don't mind flashbacks but this was all over the place with different events in her life. Sometimes it wasn't obvious right away at what point in her life we're at.

Joyce Sparks isn't likeable at all. Just out of high school and living in a small town in Ontario, she falls in love with Freddy and is blind to the fact that he is gay. After he leaves town for bigger and better things, she settles and marries Charlie. Charlie just seems to plod through life and is uninteresting. They have a son, John, who becomes the focus of Joyce's life. John spends his early years as a mama's boy before rebelling and becoming a secretive unlikeable jerk. But he doesn't know any better because Joyce was all about hiding the truths and expecting that John will turn out "normal".

Joyce becomes a bitter alone old woman living in a retirement home ... I didn't feel a lot of sympathy for her.

Despite all this, I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading other books by this author.

Saturday evening kitties nap

I wonder what they did today that made them so tired this evening.

Toronto Zombie Walk, Toronto, ON

While Gord and I were at Trinity Bellwoods Park this afternoon looking for KC's tree, we realized that the Zombie Walk was happening.

They’re back, they’re hungry and they’re not staying 6 feet under any longer!

Last year nearly 6000 corpses writhed, weaved and lurched their way through the streets of Toronto feasting on those unlucky enough to be living.

On October 22nd the dead will rise again for the 9th annual Toronto Zombie Walk!!

This year The Toronto Zombie Walk starts at Trinity Bellwoods Park at 3pm! Festivities start at 12pm!

So we wandered down to the pit to check it out.

There were some very creative people wondering around, many in character, and only too happy to pose for pictures.

Toronto police officers on bikes were keeping an eye on things.

We left about 2pm, just before the "wedding" ... there were lots of people there.

And still more coming!