happy birthday sara-belly

niceties

… the lady at tim horton’s doesn’t even need to ask me what i’d like - she’s already got me punched in, and she’s pouring the triple triple as i approach the counter.

normally this likely wouldn’t impress people - but i go to what is likely the busiest tim horton’s in toronto - in the metro centre…. and it’s impressive that of the thousands of people who get served there daily, she knows i want an extra large triple triple…. 

it’s a small thing. but it’s a nice thing. 

e-bike

ok. i love this bike.

really, really. ok ok ok - you got me - i love it because it’s the only one that goes faster than 60 and you still don’t need a motorcycle licence for it.

The red one actually goes to 80 kms/hr. It’s aptly named "FLASH".

being torn...

…. as usual, every 7 or 8 months i get the bug to think about moving… and last week the wiz and i went east - just looking.  And we realized that there was nothing that we saw (that was in our pricerange), that we liked better than the location that we are at now….

our locaion is outstanding. the water, the roof, the peace and quiet. (usually)

and so i started to look and see what was in our own (backyard) community…. and there are 3 suites that are bigger and for sale…. and now i’ve spent the past few days crunching numbers and figuring out how to buy something new.  Or something else new,

Or another 

flick the switch

… yesterday was hot - the good hot, where nothing is sticky, but you don’t need a long sleeve shirt to walk the smapp dog.

And then there was rain.  

And then this morning, it was all different, the roof was different, the lawns were different and the smapp dog had a spring in her step.  It was the arrival of fall… Somehow between 4 pm yesterday and 7 am this morning, summer disappeared behind a cloud. I didn’t get to say goodbye, but i’m not terribly sad to see it go.  Perhaps it left because i bought my first fall outfit yesterday. Silver cords from Point Zero.  I’m not a name person, but these  cords are outstanding….. now i need boots ;-)

a new addition

our neighbourhood is odd. odd in a good way, of course, and no one wants to really think of their neighbourhood as odd in a bad way. our neighbourhood is made up of really swanky condos and townhouses and marinas, interspersed with some co-ops and some subsidized housing.

a few days ago, we went to a neighbourhood meeting to discuss the implications and applications of a new condo developer who wants to put up a monster condo on the water, right beside us - and right behind tip top tailor lofts. 24-37 stories of glass and concrete and nastiness…. blocking people, pets and the rest of the world from the waterfront… not to mention the poor saps who bought lofts at tiptop… for a zillion dollars, will now be starting into a reflective wall, as opposed to the vista of lake ontario. Not ideal….

the community gathering was well turned out - folks were vocal, fired up and emotional… i’m on the fence. i’d like to see a lower building, one that is priced similarly to ours… the last think i want is something really cheap…. :-( and if there could be ammenities, that would rock. would love to be able to get a discounted fitness membership, or be able to use their cool features… oh - and if they could get a starbucks…. :-)

whoot!

friday.

i’m thrilled, can’t  you tell?

:-)

survey says...

). What time do you get up? 6:24 am

2). If you could eat lunch with one person, who would it be? Michael Moore

3). Gold/silver?  Silver

4). What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Lord of War

5). What is/are your favorite TV show(s)?  CSI, Lost, Rome, Regenesis, 24

6). What did you have for breakfast?  XL Double Double
7). Who would you hate to be stuck in a room with? Dr Phil

8). What inspires you? Creativity/Water views.
9). What is your middle name? Don’t have one. If I did, it would be X.

10). Beach, City or Country?  Beach
11). Favorite ice cream?  Pralines and Creme.

12). Butter, plain or salted popcorn? "Extra Butter halfway through"

13). Favorite color? Pink
14). What kind of car do you drive? Xterra
15). Favorite sandwich? Veal Sangweech from California Sandwich

16). What characteristic do you despise? Stupidity and people who think the sun revolves around them.
17). Favorite flowers? Daliahs
18). Where would you go on vacation? Caribbean
19). What color is your bathroom? Red and Yellow.

20). Favorite brand of clothing? Eddie Bauer.

21). Where would you retire? to the cottage.
22). Favorite day of the week? Saturday.

23). What did you do for your last birthday?  Thai Picnic on my rooftop.
24). Where were you born? Strathroy Ontario

25. Favorite sport to watch? Hockey. If I have to watch a sport.

26). Who do you least expect to send this back to you?
Everyone…

27). Person you expect to send it back first? No one!! :P
28). What fabric detergent do you use?  Cheer

29). Coke or Pepsi? Coke
30). Are you a morning person or a night owl? Morning.
31). What is your shoe size? 7.5
32). Do you have any pets? Smapp Doggy Do.

33.) What is your favorite season?  Fall
34). What time is it? 9:31 pm

35). Name as it appears on birth certificate? Pfft.
37). Number of candles on your last birthday cake? 34

38). Kids? Pseudo kids.

39). Hair color? Dark Brown

40). Piercing? 4

41). Tatoos?  Not yet.
42). Eyes? Hazel

43). How much do you love your job? It’s a worthy gig.
44). Residence? Tronno.
45). Favorite Food?  Seafood.

46). Been to Africa?  No

47). Been toilet papering? Nope.

48). Have you ever been in love? Just Once.

49). Been in a car accident?  Yes, alas.

50). Croutons or bacon bits? Bacon Bits.

51). Favorite saying or phrase? What’s big, what’s exciting, what’s going on?
52). Favorite restaurant? Korean Grill House.

53). Favorite non-alcoholic drink? Earl Grey Tea

54.) How many times did you fail your driver’s test? None


55.) Before this one, from whom did you get your last
e-mail? Grocery Gateway.

56.) Do you sing in the shower?  yes ;-)

57.) Which store would you choose to max out your
credit card? Pier 1 or Caban or Ikea or JCrew

58.) What do you do most when you are bored?  Read Blogs.

59.) Bedtime:  10:30pm weekdays..no bedtime on weekends


59.) Glass half empty or half full?  Half full

60.) If you could live anywhere in the world where
would it be? Galveston Texas - on the beach.

61.) Time you finished this e-mail?  9:36

saturday...

…. i am always thrilled with weekends that are quietly unplanned and full of promises of surprises and naps. this one is shaping into a perfect saturday, one which will likely spill over into sunday…..

the only thing i want to do to day is go to the beaches. and look.  just look, mind you. 

and perhaps go down to queen st for lunch, and see a store about a potential tatoo design. and no, it’s not for me. 

KIVELL TRIES TO MAKE THE CUT AGAIN

When Andrew Brown, a forward with the Lakehead University Thunderwolves hockey team, bumps into a teammate at the rink or in the classroom, the conversation quickly turns to his roommate, Drew Kivell.

Kivell, a defenceman, has made it through three days of training camp with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and his buddies in Thunder Bay have been hungry for the latest news on his trials and tribulations.

"Obviously, he can’t spend the entire day on the phone or e-mailing all of us," said Brown, who talked with Kivell yesterday. "The guys want to know how Drew is doing and what it’s been like. He said that he’s being put through the wringer with the fitness testing, the practices and scrimmages, but that the experience has been priceless."

Kivell had his rookie season with the Thunderwolves limited to 29 games last year because of a concussion. With Kivell in the lineup, Lakehead might have beaten the University of Western Ontario Mustangs in the Ontario University Athletics West final. Instead, Lakehead lost the deciding game 5-4 in an overtime thriller.

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"It was tough on him," Brown said. "But we were all happy he got this chance with the Leafs. He’s very passionate about the game. He’s a good guy and you like to see good things happen to good people."

Kivell, 6 foot 3 and 223 pounds, was noticed by Leafs general manager John Ferguson Jr. and his assistant, Mike Penny, during the Making the Cut television series a year ago. Kivell was among the final 18 players, but not one of the six who received invitations to training camp from one of the half-dozen National Hockey League Canadian clubs.

Still, Ferguson caught up with Kivell at a party for the TV series and told him the Leafs were interested and they would keep an eye on his progress with Lakehead.

Penny scouted a Lakehead game early in the season and was convinced that Kivell should be invited to the Leafs’ rookie camp. Kivell, 22, performed well enough at the rookie camp last week to get a spot at the club’s big training camp.

"I must admit, it has been a bit nerve-racking, playing with and against guys I have watched on Hockey Night in Canada," Kivell said. "The first game was a little shaky, going up against guys like Eric Lindros and Steve Thomas.

"It took me a while to wrap my head around the experience. But I refocused that evening and I think I’m holding my own."

Kivell, of Lakeside, Ont., near London, realizes he is a long shot to crack the Leafs’ roster. But there is a remote chance he could stick with the Leafs’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, this season.

If not the Marlies, then maybe he will be assigned to the Pensacola Ice Pilots of the ECHL, formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League. But if Pensacola is the Leafs’ preferred destination for Kivell, he admits it will be difficult to decide whether to report there or return to Lakehead, get caught up in his political science studies and play for the Thunderwolves.

"The goal, in the long run, is to play in the NHL," Kivell said. "This is part of the process. It’s been great to see how I stack up against players at this level."

NHL scouts have been aware of Kivell for a while. He played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves and Kingston Frontenacs. His 321 career OHL games are the second most in league history.

When Ferguson was with the St. Louis Blues, Kivell was invited to the Blues’ rookie camp. He also has participated in a Florida Panthers rookie camp.

"He acquitted himself well at our rookie camp [last week]," Ferguson said. "He has good size, good energy and a good attitude."

From the Globe and Mail 

Cypress Tree

Cypress Tree (Faithfulness) — strong, muscular, adaptable, takes what life has to give but doesn’t necessarily like it, strives to be content, optimistic, wants to be financially independent, wants love and affection, hates loneliness, passionate lover which cannot be satisfied, faithful, quick-tempered at times, can be unruly and careless, loves to gain knowledge, needs to be needed.

Mark Muellejans

Two rural communities struggled yesterday to cope with grief after an elementary school teacher collapsed while reading to his class and died.

Mark Muellejans, 33, collapsed in his rocking chair while teaching his Grade 2 class at North Meadows public school in Strathroy Tuesday.

The Glencoe native was in his fifth year of teaching, and was known in both communities as an upbeat, committed and inspiring teacher.

"He had a great spirit. He never gave up," Muellejans’s mother, Colene, said yesterday.

Muellejans, who had an enlarged heart, was well-known in Glencoe after surviving a fatal form of cancer during his teenage years.

"He was 17 when he was diagnosed and the doctors didn’t think he would make it," said his father, Peter.

"We almost lost him then."

Through complications with lymphoma, Muellejans continued to inspire others, attending his prom in a wheelchair wearing a fedora to cover his bald head.

"He was quite a legend in this community because of his fight and his survival," said Jane Bowley, a physical education teacher at Glencoe District high school, which Muellejans attended. "He had such a great sense of humour. One of the only ways I know how to describe him is ‘carpe diem.’ He’s a hero. He lived his life to the fullest."

Muellejans was devoted to his nine-year-old son. He shared custody of the boy with his wife, from whom he was separated.

He was a Terry Fox Run representative at Ekcoe Central public school.

Muellejans attended Ekcoe Central public school as a child and later taught there.

He spoke about his battle with cancer at the Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life in Glencoe and walked the Survivor’s Walk for the last two years. Last year, he ran the entire 12 hours of the relay.

An athlete, Muellejans also ran marathons, played basketball and volleyball and swam.

His death this week, doctors told his parents, was next to impossible to predict.

"They said that his heart was one-and-a-half times the size of a normal heart and it’s amazing he was able to do all the things he did," Peter said.

Muellejans’s first teaching job, five years ago, was at Ekcoe Central.

Teachers and those he taught were in shock yesterday.

"The impact that he had on the staff and students, it’s impossible to measure," said principal Sue Bandeen. "He was the heart of the community. He was a Glencoe boy through and through."

Muellejans’s classrooms were "animated but disciplined," Bandeen said. "He was a very positive teacher. You walked into his class and he was telling a joke or a story. He just lit up a room."

Muellejans coached sports and volunteered at after-school activities. He became a role model for healthy life choices while on the healthy schools committee at Ekcoe Central, Bandeen said.

This school year would have been Muellejans’s second at North Meadows in Strathroy.

Yesterday, the Thames Valley District school board’s trauma team was at both elementary schools helping people cope. Some teachers took the day off to collect themselves.

Some schools will pause during tomorrow’s Terry Fox run for a moment of silence.

Others will give special tributes to the passionate teacher later this month.

Muellejans’ funeral is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. at Van Heck Funeral Home in Glencoe.

apropos

"Every Day Is Exactly The Same"

I believe I can see the future
As I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
But then again
That might have been a dream
I think I used to have a voice
Now i never make a sound
I just do what I’ve been told
I really don’t want them to come around again

Oh, no

[Chorus]
Everyday is exactly the same
Everyday is exactly the same
There is no love here and there is no pain
Everyday is exactly the same

I can feel thier eyes are watching
In case I loose myself again
Sometimes I think I’m happy here
Sometimes, yet I still pretend
I can’t remember how this got started
But I can tell you exactly how it will end

[Chorus]

I’m writing on a little piece of paper
I’m hoping someday you might find
I’ll hide it behind something
They won’t look behind
I am still inside here
A little bit comes bleeding through
I wish this could have been any other way
But I just don’t know- I don’t know what else I can do!

[Chorus]

word of the day

un·ten·a·ble    ( P )  Pronunciation Key  (n-tn-bl)
adj.

1. Being such that defense or maintenance is impossible: an untenable position.
2. Being such that occupation or habitation is impossible: untenable quarters.

untenable

adj : (of theories etc) incapable of being defended or justified [syn: indefensible]

sept 11

it’s hard to imagine that it’s been 4 years since.  all the chaos and incertainty and looking overhead every time there’s been a lound plane. the wonder, and the concern and questions. 4 years. so much has changed. my life has gone 180 degrees, and if the recent past is any indication, continues to change on a day to day basis.

nothing compared to the lives of the folks who where directly and indirectly affected by september 11.  i simply hope that their lives are now changing around again. for the better.

where was i sept 11? driving an old wedding present of a SUV, on the way to a customer, listening to silly DJ howard stern on a toronto radio station.  trying to piece together if he was joking about planes hitting the towers, or if it was real.  and then arriving at the customer - they were near the airport.. and all the employees were surrounding a tv monitor, watching the news.  needless to say, there wasn’t much info - but both the customer and i were sufficiently distracted as to cut the meeting short, and move on to other things.

i headed home.  and it wasn’t until i turned on the telly, and hollered at the guy in the house to come and see - and we saw.  and we saw. and we saw.  i called into the office, and was told not to come into work.  the holiday inn had turned into a safe haven and command post for the UN delegates in toronto.  i was home for 4 days. watching. and watching.  it was bizarre.

here’s what i was really doing 

chickadee weekend

first time having the chicks in the city since may 2-4 - wow!!  we have nothing planned but some fun biking - and maybe mandarin.  what kid can’t not want to go to a 30 ft desert bar?  :-) you know what i’m saying….

what a bizarro summer… i can only hope the next 12 months go by so very fast…. so much to do, so much to change….  i canna wait!!!

allstars baseball tournament

…. the weather was marvelous, and the stella in an improvised cooler was indeed cold.  the heckling was apropos for the most part, and the barbeque was stacked with various meatlike treats.

the smapp dog was a friend to anyone who had food, and found a distinct liking for ice when she discovered water was scarcer than stella.

the baseball game itself was outstanding. the running. the hitting. the catching and the throwing.

i’m not sure who won. but ron ellis was the 3rd base coach. it was a happy wednesday night. 

2 tense

.. i’m a wigwam, i’m a tipi.

there is a pin, as well as a needle. I’m on them both. on tiptoe. 

watching for undertoes

non-labour day

… it’s all about the relaxing now… and yes - it’s come at the right time - after 4 days of chickadee adventures…. it’s good to be back in my own bed, with the AC and non-sandy sheets.

today is a day of puttering.

you know what i mean.