A Hard Day's Night

A full day yesterday packed with friendship, beautiful sights, sounds and adventures.

A different start to the day when my friend Paula offered to drive me to the train station.  We rarely see each other during the week as she works in Hamilton and I head in the other direction every morning.  Today she was scheduled to attend a training session in Toronto, so I had a train buddy and enjoyed a lively conversation on our way into the city.  Thankfully Paula is a patient and easy-going friend - in my haste to get out the door earlier than usual, I forgot to put in my contacts.  Only when we pulled onto the major road on the way to the train station, did I notice that my world was a little blurrier than usual.  (Blurrier - is that a real word?) "Ack Paula, you have to take me home. I can't see!" Lots of laughs as we raced back to the house. 

Once into the city, we parted with a hug on Front Street.  I walked up to work, cutting through the parking lot of the Royal York, through the serene courtyard of the TD Bank complex and through Nathan Philip Square.  Another pleasant surprise as the farmer's market was open. 

I didn't buy any radishes or onions, but did purchase my first pint of Ontario strawberries, and a loaf of multi-grain raisin bread.  That made for a decadent breakfast at my desk.

A busy morning - a project that had been in the works since March was finally going live.  Lots of calls between colleagues and clients.  I don't get out for lunch every day, but lately it has been so cold in my office, I need to get outside in the sun to warm up.  I walked back to the farmer's market and then popped into the Apple Store at the Eaton Centre.  Rob brought an iPad home from his last business trip to the States, but we hadn't been able to buy any accessories until it was released in Canada last week.  The store was packed as usual.  I found a sales person and asked him to direct me to the iPad accessory section. His response: "See that empty wall there...?"

Back to the office, still waiting for the official launch.  Lots to do in the mean time. The afternoon went by quickly.  A colleague had invited me to join her at a Toronto FC game that evening. Before I was to meet her for dinner on Front Street, I popped over to the Keg Mansion on Jarvis to attend a retirement party.  It was great catching up with colleagues that I had worked with a few years ago. 

Did I mention that the rain forecast for the afternoon did materialize?  I took a cab to the retirement party - traffic was crazy, the streets were jammed.  Another cab to meet Julie on Front Street.  Rain continued to pour down.  We had had beautiful sunny weather for almost 10 days.  Now on the evening I needed to run around the city and then sit down in an open stadium to watch a soccer game, the rain gods descend. 

Julie and I enjoyed our beer and food in a covered patio, watching the rain stop and start. We knew that we were going to have fun no matter what the weather. Our meal finished, we ventured out to join the crowds making their way to the stadium. 

Once there, it was my treat for the beers - Julie warned me about the exorbitant prices - we had a choice of small, medium and large plastic cups of Carlsburg beer or Carlsburg beer. 

"Two medium please."

"Twenty bucks please."

Life in the big city...

Up to our seats.  Wet seats. Julie had a makeshift rain poncho made from a garbage bag that she found at the office.

It worked.

The sky had begun to darken, we weren't sure how much was nightfall, and how much of the sky was rain clouds.

The CN Tower faded away quickly

The rain continued.  We sat back and enjoyed the sights and sounds. 

I haven't been that soaked in a long time. And I couldn't stop smiling. Game over, 0-0 (I think there were only 3 shots on goal all night), we made our way back to the streetcar. At Union Station, I bid a quick goodbye to Julie and raced to the train platform.  Thankfully the train was delayed - I would have missed it by 1 minute which would mean waiting for the next one to arrive in an hour.  Five minutes from home, I called Rob who stumbled out of bed to pick me up at the train station. 

Sixteen hours after leaving home, I returned drenched, but invigorated. 

I am blessed with a full life.  Long may it run.