London

We stayed with friends in London ---big thanks to Caitlin and Billy!--- and I felt like I had my own personal tour guides. In between her work, Caitlin graciously showed us the sights and on her work days she helped me plan our train/underground routes for the day.
Grace's highlights of London were...
---the street performers on the South Bank
---the London Zoo
---taking trains everywhere and anywhere

After the first day, she started calling money "pounds" automatically (to my great surprise!).

I loved St Paul's Cathedral and the houses of Parliment.

Everyone in London was so kind to us and Grace won everyone over, everywhere we went. I mastered carrying a toddler, stroller, a 40lb backpack and a 15lb shoulder bag through the London underground while digging out my ticket to get through the gate...only to find that it was three flights of stairs down, with no 'lift'. Plenty of very kind Londoners carried our stuff up and down stairs for us almost everyday. Someone always offered to help.

The Departure....

We had an uneventful flight overseas. Grace was a great passenger and slept most of the way from Halifax to London. I had to wake her once we landed at the airport. Here are a couple of photos from the plane.

Packing...

My goal is to pack very light for this trip. I do not want to be ladden down with luggage and chasing Grace in airports and foreign cities. I am hoping to fit it all in one carry-on backpack...which Grace has taken to calling a 'pack bag'....probably since I talk about packing our bag.
We are only taking a couple of story books with us for amusement and the laptop with a couple of movies downloaded. She is at the stage where she makes everything into a toy or game anyways. She will be happy with a pen and paper to draw or simple utensils and cups to play tea party. She seems to have a bit of a dual personality these days...there is sweet and pleasant Grace and then as soon as tiredness/hungar/boredom/jealousy take over she turns into "Terrible Two's" Grace complete with whining, crying, and temper tantrums. I will try to keep her well fed and rested while we are on vacation....especially while we stay with Caitlin and Billy. :)
I found a neat product online that can be used instead of a carseat on airplanes...I am off this afternoon to see if I can find it at Stylin' Mom and Tot.
I will keep you posted....
XX

Have you given up on me?

I did not realize that it had been so long since I last did a blog post....hope you all did not give up on me. My laptop was in for repair forever, and finally today the company called and told me to come pick out a new laptop...mine was damaged in shipping it back to the store. So...here I am with a computer again...and a spiffy one at that!
We leave for the UK on Tuesday and plan to stay there a week and move onto France for another week. I plan on keeping you posted as we travel as I will have my laptop with me.

ted.com

I enjoy watching the videos on ted.com, but this one is my all time favourite!
I tried to post the video, but it would not let me.
Here is the link:

10 Things you did not know about orgasm.
http://www.ted.com/talks/mary_roach_10_things_you_didn_t_know_about_orgasm.html

Halifax

I was in Halifax for 4 days last week to attend the Atlantic Senior's Housing Research Alliance (ASHRA) conferance. It was the culmination of 5 years of research and 1.3 million in research dollars. The results are outstanding and I hope that some of them are implemented here in the Maritimes.

I especially loved the details of how seniors are housed from around the world. I think I will need to go to Northern Europe for the best treatment. Some exciting technology was showcased that will benefit seniors who wish to stay at home longer before entering a nursing home. The company is called Tunstall from the UK...really cutting edge (in my world anyways...not of much interest to the rest of the world).

Much Music

Much Music was quite easy to find as it was in the entertainment district of Toronto. I timed my trip so that it would be "Much On Demand" when I came. They always have the doors open to the street and you can see in. They had a large screen TV on which you could see what was happening during the show. At some points during the show they come outside to talk to the crowd. No one special was there the day that I went. About 20 people were standing outside and everyone who walked by asked "Who is here today?" That must be fun if you live in that neighbourhood, you can walk by when you favourite music artist is there.

I stayed for about 10 minutes then moved on. I ate on the rooftop patio of a place across the street so that I could still watch though.

Green Cabs

These 'cabs' brought a smile to my face....no one seemed to be using them though. I think they would work well as Toronto is quite flat.

More on Toronto

The Toronto trip turned out to be fun overall. I quickly got over my 'run in' with the homeless women and made the most of the trip. The photo above is where the conferance was held (Victoria College). It was a very historic block and buildings and I soaked it all in. I took the photo from underneath a beautiful archway (hence the framing in the photo). All the photos turned out 'grainy'...time for a new camera....

I went to the top of the CN Tower and took in the view of the city. It only took about a minute to got up in the elevator. The elevator has two glass walls and a glass floor so the view is breathtaking! Some people closed their eyes, but I took it all in! However, when it came to walking on the glass floor at the top, I was a little more hesitant...it just looked unnatural for me.

I could not figure out how to rotate the picture below, but that is my view from the bottom on the tower looking up. The second photo is from the elevator as we were going down. The last picture is the view from the top. It was quite hazy that day, but I still thought the view was spectacular!

Toronto

I was sitting in the back of a cab surrounded by giantic IKEA bags and a backpack full of shopping from the Eaton Centre....I was thinking what a good day of shopping I had in Toronto. I was able to find my way to all the shops I wanted downtown and even took the subway (with a transfer) to go to North York IKEA without getting lost there and back. I had way too many bags when I got off the subway...so that is how I ended up in the back of the cab....taking it only 6 blocks to the university....when it happened. My little daydream bubble was burst when a homeless lady opened the door to the cab and started screaming at me and begging for money. The cabbie kept yelling for me to close the door but she would not move! She didn't like that I was trying to close the door on her either! She was right in my face, yelling, begging, crying, grabbing at my arm....very scary! I have not had such an forceful encounter with a homeless person. I would have given her some money if I had some in my pocket, but I figured if I went digging for my wallet in my backpack she would probably steal it. Cars behind us in the intersection where honking at us/her and she kept right at it. Finally the cabbie passed back a few dimes and I gave them to her.
The cabbie said that she begs on that corner all the time, but he has never seen her open the door to a car before. Lesson learned: Always lock the car doors!

Mud

My hands are absolutely filthy at the moment....and I love it! Grace and I had a great day playing and gardening in Siobhan's back garden. I am doing only container plants/gardending this year as we may be moving.
We potted some cucumbers, letture and tomatoes. I need some more soil to get the green peppers in as well. We also potted some phlox, which Grace quite likes as it is pink (her favourite colour). We will have to make sure that we get the phlox in the ground sometime before late fall as it is a perennial.
Grace had a bad tumble at the garden centre and has a large 'goose egg' on her forehead to show for it....ouch! She recouped quite quickly though and was back to her usual self in no time....a tough cookie.

My last post was a bit preachy...I wonder what had happened to me that day? Funny that I don't remember...early onset dementia, I think

What I know for sure....don't judge others!

My rant of the day!

Never, ever pass judgement on someone until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
You have no idea what people have been through in their life that has led to the decisions they make today.

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mother's Day! Grace made me some lovely homemade gifts and cards this year. Very precious and will be displayed proudly at work and home.

...

This quote has been on my fridge for the past several months and I thought I would share it.

'I believe that we still learn as much from our differences as we do from our similiarities.
When we only talk amongst ourselves all we get back are echoes. But when we talk with others of a different mind we are made to think. And it is in thinking that we learn and in learning that we grow.
But we only grow if we take the time to quietly and carefully listen to each other.'

Romeo LeBlanc, Governor General
February 8, 1995