Dylan's "Cash for Life"

We have quit the Ford Modeling Agency and ceased all auditions/print work at this time so that Dylan can concentrate on school activities.

So, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a cheque in the mail for a commercial that Dylan had shot a year ago. It seems that whenever they re-air a commercial after a 6 month hiatus, they pay you again!

Ironically, Dylan's commercial is for the "Cash for Life" lottery, which hopefully will live up to it's name for Dylan's RESP.

Mum's Star Wars Creation

Dylan has become a Star Wars fanatic ever since we rented the movies over the Christmas holidays. He would like a Star Wars theme birthday party in April. When I looked at the cost of costumes and robes on the internet I said I would not allow all these expenses. Fortunately for Dylan, he has a grandma who sews! When mum saw his longing for a Jedi robe she quickly looked for appropriate patterns and material on the internet.

Today, a package arrived in the mail with Dylan's new Jedi robe which grandma made by hand! Wow!!! It looks amazing and Dylan was thrilled!
This got me thinking about the lost art of sewing. This is a skill which is dying with our generation. Most of my friends remember our moms at the sewing machine making their beautiful dresses. It was such a source of pride to be able to create your own special designs. I remember falling asleep everynight to the sound of my mom's sewing machine in the kitchen. Then suddenly, off-the-rack clothing became very reasonably priced and it was no longer cost effective to produce these time-consuming personal creations. I remember my mom comparing the cost of a dress at Eaton's with her own version and it just didn't make economic sense anymore.

Now, handmade items, made with love and care are treasures (not economic necessities). Dylan will treasure this. When he called grandma to thank her I was going to instruct him with what to say. However, he stopped me by saying, "Mommy, don't worry. I will just say what is in my heart." And he meant every word. Thanks mum!

May the Force be with You!

Easter Sunday

It was Easter Sunday and Dylan was dressed in his Sunday best clothes (thanks to mum and Talbots).
The Niemeyers came for lunch after church. It was nice to see the Edwin and Sharon, the newlywed couple again. Sharon is an excellent baker and whipped up these scrumptious cupcakes.

Overall we ate until we were stuffed.

Starting on the appetizers

Baby Nathan managed to stay awake and adorable despite missing his afternoon nap!

The Poor Man's Segway

We drove by a Film Set sale on Friday and decided to have a look. There were items from the children's movie ZOOM with Tim Allen (Dylan and I had seen it and did not care for it). Andrew came upon an electric scooter which was cracked, had a dead battery and a missing ignition keyhole/key. He was impressed with the disc brakes and thought "I can use this for parts for my recumbent". He was happy to discover that it cost only $25.

Upon some internet research he discovered that this type of vehicle used to be sold for $1100. Now, a similar model sells for $600.

At first the vehicle did not look like it could be revived. But after alot of tinkering and consultation with dad and Don, Andrew came up with a plan. Et voila! The Poor Man's Segway is born!

Press PLAY to see this puppy in action.

Of course the whole family had to take turns on it! Press PLAY to see Dylan's new mode of school transportation.

Scavenger Hunt

My sister's family came over for dinner on Good Friday. Although we would normally have an Easter Egg Hunt, I decided to have a Scavenger Hunt to include both adults and children. The group was divided into two teams: The Men vs. Moms with Children. Each group was given a list of neighbourhood items or activities which they needed to find. Each group had a digital camera to record their findings and offer the "proof". After the Hunt, we had a great time reviewing the photos and scoring their efforts.

These are some of the things they did:

Photo with a Starbucks Barista: 5 points

Photo with a Fireman: 5 Points

Photo of the Team With Something "Bad" for Them: 4 Points

Bad Boys Andrew and Malcolm Drinking Pop and Blowing Bubblegum

Photo of the Team Doing Something "Good": 5 Points

Dylan and Sarah Doing Something Good and "Eating" Their Vegetables

Malcolm Doing Something "Good" and Throwing Garbage in the Trash Can

Build a Snowman Complete with Eyes/Nose/Arms: 2 Points

Sarah and Dylan Build the World's Smallest Snowman

Team Pose with a Streetcar Driver: 4 Points

Andrew with the Streetcar Driver Who Insisted He take a Transfer as Evidence

The following photos could have been in the categories of either DOING SOMETHING BAD or SOMETHING TO REALLY MAKE ME LAUGH!

Bad Boys Andrew and Malcolm

Really Bad Boys Don and Andrew

The climax of the evening was a relaxing Easter dinner.

Last Ski Day

We had our last ski day. Here we are posing at the end of the day....if you look closely you will see our two friends, Jack and Christine, acting like a couple of goofballs, in the background.

We had fun going over some jumps (press PLAY).

And here is Dylan attempting the half-pipe with skis. Press PLAY.

Spring Break

Dylan had a March (Spring) Break from school for one week. He and I considered packing our bags and heading to various destinations but after much deliberation we decided to visit the all-inclusive, all expense-paid, fine dining, very hospitable resort known as the Grandparent's House in Ottawa (Timeshare Thomas).

We set out on our roadtrip (after a quick stop to Starbucks Coffee) during the beginning of a blinding snow/freezing rain storm. We managed to crawl along the highway for 100km when we abandoned the plans (temporarily) and checked into a hotel with two pools.

Venti Bold for the Trip

The next day we arrived in Ottawa only to discover a record total snowfall of almost 100cm! The snowbanks along the street were twice the size of Dylan. Immediately, we went tobogganing.

Mum giving Dylan a push

The following day saw more sunshine and while Dylan and I went downhill skiing, Mum and Dad went cross country skiing for several hours.

Mum and Dad with Crosscountry skis

The View From our Chairlift

This is a video of our ski day at Camp Fortune. After an entire day of glorious sunshine and great conditions, Dylan has a small wipeout.....and I just happened to capture it on video (press the PLAY button)

After a day of skiing we all enjoyed dinner at a restaurant.

The next day brought more sunshine and we visited a SUGAR SHACK (a maple syrup producing farm). This was a very interesting experience as we learned how the Maple trees are tapped for the sap (approximately 40 litres per tree) which is then boiled down to about 1 litre. Unfortunately, the season was still too cold for the sap to start flowing yet. However we were treated to a lovely sleigh ride in the forest and scavanger hunts on the trails.

Mum and Dylan on a Two-Horse Open Sleigh Eventually Dylan and I had to leave Timeshare Thomas and head home. We stopped to see my sister and celebrate Don's birthday at a restaurant/entertainment emporium.

Sandra, Don, Malcolm, Sarah and Dylan

Dylan and Cousin Sarah with their Earnings

Track 3 Sit Ski

Andrew has been volunteering with Track 3 Ski Association for 11 years. This year he was partnered with a student in a "Sit Ski". A Sit Ski is like a chair on shaped skis. The student can carve a turn by leaning sideways. An instructor follows with a safety tether just to make sure the student doesn't become out of control. Two instuctors are needed to lift the device onto the chairlift. I have to applaud Andrew for all his hard work this year. The lessons were physically grueling and involved a tremendous amount of lifting.

Andrew's student, Hayden, has cerebral palsy and used a wheelchair when he wasn't skiing. He needed to be lifted from the bus to the chair, from the chair to the ski, to the bathroom etc....all day long.

However, Hayden LOVES skiing and is a cheerful and talkative child. Here is a VIDEO of our two sit skiers in action! (Press PLAY).

Of course our program also has its jovial moments. Here is Andrew on our "crazy hat day" when he strapped a Starbucks cup to his helmet.

Book Club 2nd Year Anniversary

My Book Club ladies on our second year anniversary.

I had already published last's year's list of books read. The following were our books for 2007:

The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Kim Edwards

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa Lee

Suite Francaise, Irene Nemirovsky

Ex-Boyfriend's Handbook, Matt Dunn

Blindness, Jose Saramago

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

The End of East, Jen Sookfong Lee

Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert

A Thousand Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini

Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides

School Trip

I accompanied Dylan's class on a school trip by streetcar.
His class has been studying bridge and building structures and stability. So, it was only appropriate that we start our journey at Toronto's most famous structure, the CN Tower. My fear of heights came back as I watched my son playing on the glass bottom floor 583 m in the sky.
Later we went on a walking tour of some beautiful structures such as the Union train station, BCE place and Skywalk.

The trip concluded with a visit to hear the Toronto Symphony at Roy Thomson Hall.

Lunch with my Father

My father recently returned from a vacation in Cuba (he was there when Fidel Castro announced his retirement). He took me for 2 1/2h lunch at a nice Italian (of course) restaurant. It was good to catch up as I have found the post-Christmas time to be very hectic....everyone is busy hibernating and working and I have not seen many people that I normally see. This was a nice interlude from life's craziness. The next day my sister called and we agreed to make a point of getting together over the next couple of weeks.

Collingwood Dinner

We have been travelling to Collingwood to ski every weekend. This weekend we had a fabulous dinner at a resort restaurant, within our own private dining room equipped with bigscreen TV and audio system! We dined with "old" friends which I say in both a figurative and literal meaning as these are people with which we have been teaching Track 3 for over 12 years.
Dylan Entertained Himself with his Book

Winterlude in Ottawa

We had the good fortune to spend WINTERLUDE in the city of Ottawa with my in-laws. During this winter festival we visited the beautiful (but melting) ice sculptures.

We skated Canada's longest skating rink (i.e. canal) with Grandma.

Our tradition is to always eat a hot beavertail (pastry) after our exercise and have a maple syrup taffy dipped in the snow.

In the evening we had a lovely dinner at an avant garde restaurant with our (always photogenic) friends Daniella and Bill.

The next day we got together again, this time with our children to play their new Wii game, Dance Dance Revolution (DDR). This is an energetic game where you compete in dancing contests. This was even more fun for the adults and I was surprised to see even the men dancing to Madonna!

Andrew and Bill in a Dancing Battle!

The Next Generation Also in Dance Battle!

Baby Dylan Does Karate

This is one of my favourite videos of Dylan as a baby. His Aunt Arleen is helping him learn some karate moves. Press PLAY for this 20 sec video.

Don't Worry....my Mom's a Nurse!

A Nurse Practioner has started orientation in our Palliative Care Unit. I realized that she and I had worked together at St. Joseph Health Centre, Emergency Department in 2003. Dylan would have been 4 years old. She began to laugh when she saw me and said she wanted to share a vivid memory of me. During the summertime, all the emergency department physicians and nurses were invited to an outdoor bbq, along with our families. Our children were being entertained by jumping on a bouncy castle when one child fell off and began to cry.

Casey clearly remembers my son Dylan running over to the boy, putting his hands up to calm the adults (i.e. emergency doctors and nurses) and shouting out, "DON'T WORRY EVERYONE, MY MOM IS A NURSE!!"

SHROVE Tuesday (Pancake Tuesday)

Today was SHROVE Tuesday or PANCAKE Tuesday and we were invited by neighbours to their church for a pancake supper.

Shrove Tuesday is a term used mainly in the U.K. and Canada and comes from the word "shrive" shich means to confess. Since the middle ages people were encouraged to confess before Lent began. In the french language it is MARDI GRAS (grease or fat Tuesday). Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent (and the the day by which time all fats and cream had to be used up, hence the making of pancakes). It is a time for celebration and penitence before Lent begins.

Lent begins on ASH Wednesday, the day after Shrove Tuesday. Lent lasts for forty days (not including Sundays) and ends the day before Easter Sunday (March 23, 2008). The forty days marks the 40 years the Israelites spent wandering through the desert and the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert.

During Lent Christians would fast as a way to remember the 40 days that Jesus spent alone while fasting and facing temptation by the devil.

School's Out! Snow Day!

A snowstorm dumped 25 cm of snow on Toronto this past Friday. At around 11:30am Dylan's school decided to close and the teachers began to call parents to come and pick up their children. This was highly unusual because the last snow day called by the Toronto District School Board was 30 years ago.

Unfortunately, I had just come off several night shifts and I was asleep with the phone ringer off and my white-noise machine on. The school called our home, my cell phone, and finally they contacted Andrew. Andrew phoned and phoned but could not rouse me. Finally, he called our neighbour who came pounding on our front door. I finally made it to the school around 1:30. Here is a photo of Dylan, heartbroken, as he was lead away from school (NOT!)

Dylan was able to spend the day making a wonderful snow fort in our neighbour's yard and enjoying some decent snowfall.

Winterlicious

Our city tries several things to help make the winter months pass quickly. One such event is the three-week long dining extravaganda named "Winterlicious". For a "prix fixe" of $25 one can dine on a three-course meal at some of Toronto's top restaurants. Reservations can be obtained from Sun - Thurs only.

I had the opportunity of dining with three ladies from my street on Sunday. We had a very unique ceasar salad, Tandori salmon and a trio of creme brulees. Since we had booked our reservation during the heart of SuperBowl Sunday we, along with several other ladies and a handful of gay men, had the pick of the seats at a fine restaurant.

Bon Appetite!