We've taken on a lot, and somehow managed to stay in tact. Living life now as a family of 4!

Everyone: NEW YORK IS AMAZING! You should all go. Immediately. For real. I am going to try to give you a snap-shot of what we did and how amazing it was, but really, there are no words. And plus, some of the best parts don't come through in type because I don't know how exactly to represent the full impact of a guy stepping onto the subway while loudly proclaiming 'Make some room, make some room. I gotta seizuh diso-duh, I haven't had any medication in fouh days; I'll have a seizuh on youh head, I don cahe'. Andrea and I met up in Chicago, picked up Heather in Newark and made our way to the big city where Hiu Yee had planned the most fantastic trip I have ever been on. It was 5 days of friendship, talking, laughing, looking, experiencing and EATING! Oh my word, the eating. We ate at some of the best restaurants in the city, and not just the little hole-in-the-wall kind - the REAL kind. My taste-buds are still not the same. I don't really...

My life is a movie! From tomorrow at about 7pm till Tuesday till about 5, I will be living in a scenario that is usually only seen on the big screen. No joke, I can't believe it is here and it is happening. 15 years after we graduated from high school, my 3 dear friends and I will be painting the Big Apple all shades of red for 4.5 days. THIS IS AMAZING! I can't wait for all of the following: - SO MUCH FOOD! - SO MANY LAUGHS! - SO MUCH TALKING! About everything! - SO MANY ADVENTURES! - SUCH GOOD FRIENDS! Seriously, there should be a camera crew following us around because this is A-MAZE-ING! It's the kind of thing you talk about but usually never happens. And yet, HERE WE GO! WOOP WOOP! I love these women, and am so pumped to spend some time in their company :)

Ok, seriously, I know. In Canada, all we do is talk about the weather. It's the start of every conversation, and it dominates our psyche. Especially for those of us who live where the weather tends to be extreme. Look, I'm not going to go into this in depth, but I just need to say somewhere, for the record: OK WINTER, YOU WIN! I GIVE! UNCLE! WHATEVER ELSE YOU DEMAND I SAY! I was really good. For a long time. In October, I welcomed winter! Skiing! Skating! Pretty snow! In December, we got the skis and skates out and learned how to bundle for true -40 (toques in hot tubs are key at these temperatures. Otherwise your ears freeze and force you to go in before you're ready. If you have a toque, you can stay in the hot tub for HOURS). In January, I walked to work on days when ENTIRE STATES closed schools. I dragged my friends outside and to the ski trails. In February, it was getting a little old but the Olympics kept things fresh, and I was inspired to ski down the h...

I was updating my resume the other day and tried to describe what it is I do. Mostly it falls under 'other duties as necessary.' For example: A few weeks ago a kid came in to register accompanied by his mother and a white-haired white man. This is pretty unusual, because we don't have a lot of white people in our school - especially not ones accompanying African students. As we learned more about the family, it became clear that this was a unique case that would take lots of time and advocating on behalf of this family. Very succinctly: the student who came to register was abandoned here in September by his father who drove him over the border and to his mother's apartment building, put him on the elevator and said 'She lives on the ____ floor. Good luck.' That is just one tiny part of the story. The student had been in his father's custody for 5 years prior, was schlepped around all over the world, and by all accounts, was treated pretty horribly by...

I don't really know how to write about this, but it has become more clear to me that I have to. Keeping it inside is causing all kinds of angst in my soul that has come to a bit of a head this holiday; a time when emotions tend to run high and coping skills are maxed out anyway. It's hard to write about and talk about for a several reasons: 1. It's personal. So deeply deeply personal. But at some point, the personal private nature of it becomes a burden that only adds to the stress of the situation. 2. No one wants to hear about my sex life (nor do I really want to write about it), no matter how inadvertently. Especially considering a lot of my family members read this little blog (although I have not decided if I will post the link to fb - if I don't, traffic will be quite limited). 3. The last thing anyone wants is to be the object of pity. I also am not a huge fan of sympathy (bizarre, I know): it makes me cry, and I don't want to cry. I don't like being...

It's fall! As much as I love summer, I also love fall. The colors, the crisp air, that only-in-fall blue blue sky.  We've done a few fun fall things: Exploring at Beaudry Provincial Park, where there happened to be an ultra-marathon going on and I ran into (or rather, he almost ran into us) one of my extended family, who was racing and another who was supporting him. I don't really know what would possess someone to see how many 5.6k laps they could do in 3 or 6 or 12 or heaven forbid, 24 hours, but hey, everyone has different versions of 'fun', right?     We went canoeing! From the bridge in Headingly to our house at Aubrey. Took 3 hours, the sun was warm and the wind was mostly not in our faces. I just love canoeing.   We didn't stop for ice cream, but it was still fun. Thanksgiving! Loren and Lori continue to outdo themselves using Thanksgiving meal components in new and interesting ways. Here we have, that's right, a GRAVY FOUN...