59. And a half.

I am planning to take Carson to New York City later this summer in celebration of her 20th birthday. As soon as I had confirmed travel dates, I started imagining where Evann and I would go for her 20th (hint: Eiffel Tower). Giddy with excitement, I shared these plans with Leah the next morning as we were getting ready for work/school.

"Oh Leah. Imagine when you are 20 and we are planning a trip to anywhere in the world. Won't that be great?" I enthused.

She didn't seem to share in my excitement.

With a perplexed look on her face, she asked "How OLD are you going to be then?"

Sigh...

Beginner's Test

"Well, if I have to walk home from the GO station, at least it's a beautiful evening. And a half hour walk is good exercise. If I ever get to live in Toronto, maybe I will be walking a half hour home from work every day.  This is good."

Rob and his folks are in the city for a family function, and Carson has my car.  This isn't the first time I haven't had a ride home and it definitely isn't going to be the last.  We are now just days until our new lives officially begin. New homes, new labels.  Single mom. The kids will still have their support group. Mine will be significantly diminished.

7:40 p.m. Five minutes from home I receive a text from Evann.  She's volunteering at a school carnival in the next neighbourhood and needs money and a sweater. I tell her that I'm almost home and will bike over with her stuff. "A little more exercise!" I tell myself.

I'm starving. In the house, a quick hug to Leah, a greeting to her friend, change, grab a square of dark chocolate, hop on my bike and I'm off. I also managed to scrounge a handful of change - hoping I have enough for Evann to buy one of the bbq offerings. Curse these school events - just about the only place that doesn't accept debit cards.

8:15   I find Evann outside at the back of the school working at the freezie stand - freezing and hungry.  She gets permission to take a break and we head for the cafeteria.  Hooray, the food is marked down. We can get a hamburger or hotdog and a drink for $3.00.  Ev counts the change. I had managed to scrape together $6.25. Yippee! We can both dine at the school tonight!

We park ourselves outside on a baseball bench, wolf down our burgers and take a few minutes to catch up.  Ev has to help out til 9 so I bike around the neighbourhood until she is done.  I really don't want to walk all the way home so I make Ev ride with me. She is seated and I am pedaling upright. It takes a bit of adjusting to keep her legs from tangling in mine and in the pedals.  We laugh as we picture how we must look - thinking of those images from somewhere in the far east of families of 8 or so all piled on one bicycle. Ev is a great sport. She is both mortified (that someone she knows will see her) and terrified (I'm a bit wobbly riding this way), but hangs on tight and laughs along with me.  We manage to ride together most of the way home.

As we near our house I see my car in the driveway. "How long has Carson been home? Don't tell me we could have got her to pick us up."  Ev finally clues in that my walk home from the train and my bike ride were not whims of fancy. They were a necessity.

I remain positive, thinking "Ah well, it was a fun bonding experience and a great workout. One car, one parent and three busy kids. We will be able to make this work."

I am greeted at the door by a panicked Carson.  Her toilet won't flush. Only a few days ago I was thinking about all the little home maintenance jobs that I felt I would be able to handle on my own once I'm in my new place.  "I think I'm going to warn the landlord that he better be prepared to help out with any clogged toilets.  That's about the only thing I don't want to deal with."

It didn't take long for me to become agitated - especially after finding out that it has been clogged for two days.  Two days that Opa or Rob could have fixed the problem.  At first I told her she was on her own - but then I gave my head a shake and rose to the occasion.

And we did it! That's about all the details I need to share about THAT bonding experience.

Back downstairs to check in with Leah, fold some laundry and finally at 9:50 I sat down, thinking "That felt like a test."

I think I passed.

Kyran stayed here, Evann went there, Leah's arms were everywhere

Kyran's whirlwind tour into Toronto packed a heck of a lot of people and fun into 72 hours:
Reading at Harbourfront

If you look closely, you should be able to see Stuart McLean in the audience - really!

After the reading, nine of us headed a few blocks over to a condo I had "borrowed" for the evening.  Driving rain swept away our umbrellas and within minutes we were soaked.

We dried ourselves off as best we could and spent the next few hours drinking wine, laughing and sharing stories about our lives.  

The next day, Kyran was escorted around town for some interviews.  I had my own special day that afternoon at the Elgin Winter Garden Theatre where I joined my Vancouver Olympic Ontario House team to receive the highest award given within the Ontario Public Service - the Amethyst Award.

I had to pass on joining the team for dinner to race to pick up Kyran and meet some of the family at home (that was Plan C...). It was great to have Kyran to ourselves for a few hours.

 (Aunt Joyce - one of those books is yours, but somehow it has disappeared.  You will get it soon, I promise!)

Later that evening, Carson had a few friends over.  It was fun to see the expressions on their faces when they saw the books, the author picture on the dust cover and made the connection with the woman sitting next to them...

In a blink of an eye, she was headed back home. I was thrilled the next morning to see her book quoted in an article (about Target) on the front page of National Post.  A feature article about her and the book will be published in the Post any day now.  

Life returned to whatever passes for normal around here these days.  Then yesterday I saw that one of our favourite GLEE characters was in town - and was available to meet and greet the first 300 people who bought his CD at the Eaton Center store.  Within minutes I got confirmation that Evann and Carson would love to have that opportunity.   On my lunch break I went down to the record store (are they still called that?) and bought some CD's.  

The girls made it downtown - with only a bit of teenage angst and time-mismanagement - and got in line to meet Mr. Schuester aka Matthew Morrison.

Ev said that he was really sweet.  When it was her turn to meet him, he stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Matt".

After that excitement, we made our way to Queen Street for sushi and shopping.

And tonight, out at Leah's basketball tournament. This was the third tournament of the season but the first time Leah was off the injured list and on the court.  The girls made it into the finals - again.  I only arrived in time for the last game, but what a game to watch.  The girls won 19-7.  Leah and her friend Chantel scored most of the points.  About halfway through the game, Leah got 4 successive baskets - all within in few minutes.  I had my new crappy camera with me and could not get a good action shot.

Or maybe she is just too fast

The crowd of parents had a good laugh watching Leah press the other team - she was a giant wall. A happy giant wall.

So proud! So glad Carson and Andrew were there too.

We celebrated with some ice cream.

A few more busy days ahead.

Mother's Day

Finally a beautiful sunny and warm weekend.
The usual busy one as well.
Sunday was filled with lots of fun.

In the morning we met mom and dad and Adam and Yvonne and kids at the Royal Botanical Gardens. We had hoped to walk through the rock garden but seems us early birds were an hour too early to enter the grounds.  Instead we enjoyed a walk along the marsh.

We were surrounded by a symphony of nature sounds - the frogs and birds were chirping non-stop.  I was surprised when I heard something moving through the grass. A snake? Yes.  

And what did Evann and Leah find the most fascinating? 

On our way to brunch, we stopped in at the cemetery to pay our respects to Gramma and Grampa Hammond and Uncle Dennis.

The setting is breathtaking and it stimulated an interesting discussion with Evann on cremation vs burial.  I love walking through cemeteries and it seems that the girls found it more fun than they expected. Especially when they found Snape and Potter headstones a few feet from the other.   

Brunch at a local restaurant was delicious. Avry and Sydney kept us entertained.

Home to do a bit of laundry and hang it outside. Evann and I raced out the door when we received an invite to take a spin in Brigid's convertible. Five girls piled in and we cruised downtown Oakville. 

And just hung around the car a bit...

We did manage to tear ourselves away from the car and take in the busy little downtown and its ice cream stores and bakeries.

My oh my, that was a fun way to cap off a lovely Mother's Day.

City girls

A few weekends ago, Leah and I spent time in the big city.

We went to the preview of Hoodwinked 2

Took in some art at the AGO

And enjoyed ice cream a la Henry Moore

On our way to the AGO, we stopped into a little clothing shop that I used to frequent when I worked on University Avenue.  The owners, Gina and Marcia, would greet me by name and get me to try on (and buy) all kinds of outfits that I normally wouldn't consider wearing.  "Val", Gina enthused, "this would look great on you!" Yes their job was to sell, but they also steered me clear of certain styles and colours. Any time I reach for a boxy jacket, I can hear Marcia matter-of-factly state "Val, that is not a flattering look for you." I still wear just about everything I have bought from that place the past ten years.  And while I would not call most of the pieces classics, they certainly have stood the test of the fashion trends of the last decade.   

Over the years, the girls (Gina and Marcia) have heard about my girls so I thought it would be nice to drop in at the store and introduce them to Leah.  Gina was on her own that day, and immediately told Leah how much fun she had dressing me - I felt like she was talking about Barbie.  Gina then proceeded to go through the store and find a dozen things for me to try on. Not exactly what I had in mind, but with Leah's blessing, we held an impromptu fashion show.  Leah laughed along with us and seemed to enjoy the banter between me and Gina. I kept waiting for Leah to get bored and politely ask when we could leave, but instead, she sat and gave the thumbs up or down on the various dresses and outfits Gina threw at me. In the end, I didn't buy anything.  Gina knows that I will be back.

I keep wondering what it was that had Leah grinning ear-to-ear in the store that day. She seemed so happy to see me having fun.

I guess it is called retail therapy for good reason.

It's here!!!

I want to run up and down the street shouting "It's here, it's here! It's finally here!"

Instead I will:

show you my copy,

this picture of Ev who grabbed the book out of the carton as soon as I ripped it open,

and quickly log off, get ready for bed and crack open 

COUSIN KYRAN'S BOOK!!!

Uh oh, I think that I am going to cry...

A much better weekend thank-you-very-much

Opa made his triumphant return home on Friday.  We celebrated with beer and pizza. Already today he looks (and sounds) considerably healthier and happier.

Ev reports that her toe feels fine.  We made a good call leaving the wheelchair at the hospital last week:

We took a break from house showings this weekend.  It didn't take long for the place to look cluttered.  Tomorrow we are back to a pristine home to showcase to prospective buyers.  (We had an offer on the place this weekend, but could not find agreement on a selling price.  We will wait it out until we get what we want. We are buoyed by the recent listing of another home on this street - for way more than what we are asking.)

Saturday night I ventured out to the King Eddy hotel to attend an engagement party for a colleague.  It was a beautiful and busy night in the city. It took me 15 minutes to find a parking spot - the city and bars were packed with UFC fans.

My friend and colleague Alexandra is grace personified. She is smart, fun and wiser than her years.  She's also the youngest of three daughters and hence a great advisor as I try to do my mom thing without inflicting years of future psychotherapy sessions on my girls.

The ballroom was full of people thrilled to be celebrating Aly and Mike's engagement.  I had a great time putting together the faces to the people in the stories Aly shared about her family and friends.  All good - really!  The oyster bar sommelier - or whatever those guys are called - walked us through the oyster selections.  I tried not to overstay my welcome at that table.

I found a nice couple to chat with and if all goes well, Aly and I will be joining them at some fun, hip bar in Parkdale some Friday night in May.  They assured me that there would be people "my age" there. I don't think they were patronizing me....

Here I am with Aly earlier in the evening:

Sunday up bright and early.  A run to the airport, then up to Mt. Forest via Hamilton.  I dropped off Loretta at her aunt's, then spent a few hours with my other step-mom, Marie.  It's been four years since Dad died and it has been a difficult time for Marie to figure out how to live her life without Dad.  She is ready to move out of the home they shared and asked me to come up and go through some of Dad's things.  I asked if I could have some of his tools - they will be good to have when I'm on my own. There are some pictures and some old certificates and deeds that will be fun to go through with Dwayne some day.  Dad always had a pocketknife on him, and we now have a very old one of his.  There are a lot of his hats - Dwayne will get them all but the Yankees cap. I needed a new one for ball this year, and this one will work well. Cuff links and tie pins and clips. A straight razor and a travel bar kit.

There are a few things from his mom - his biological mom.  He was raised by his grandparents.  Another story for another time.

They are things. They tell a bit of a story. But there are two items that I look forward to using that will connect me to Dad every time.  One is a big blue leather rocker/recliner chair.  The chair has seen better days - the leather on the arms is worn thin.  But it is cosy and comfy and it feels like I am being hugged when I sit in it.  Dad would nap in that chair.  The day he died, Marie said that they had lunch together and then Dad went downstairs to have a quick nap before he had to head back to work.  He wasn't out of the house more than 10 minutes before he suffered a fatal heart attack.

I also have his slippers.  They would be parked beside his desk when he wasn't wearing them.  The last few years Dad played the stock market. He had a complicated formula that he felt would some day make him rich.  My most recent memories of him are sitting at the desk in front of the computer, slippers on, explaining how he bought and sold his shares.  I don't think he ever made any money.  But he did have a lot of fun trying to outwit "the system".

He is gone, but will never be forgotten.