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Posts Tagged "Ontario"
I didn’t ever really get the Christmas spirit this year. I come from a long line of women who love Christmas. Every year, I get excited about the holidays. I am touched by the music, I love doing the decorations, I love the presents, I love entertaining. I usually love it all. This year, I never caught that holiday spirit. I tried. We had a big party, we decorated the house, we had presents, we spent time together as a family. But somehow, it felt like work this year and I kept waiting for the hallelujah chorus. Is something wrong with me? Is it because I am getting older? I have been trying to figure out what happened. I don’t really know what it was, except maybe I am tired–I have been doing my yoga challenge since October 15th. Because of an ice storm, our party was smaller than usual and we had too much leftover food–it really bugged me and I didn’t want to throw it away so we ate too much stuff I usually don’t eat. We lost power for 24 hours after the party because of the ice storm and I got really worried about our family. I don’t want to be a whiner, but I FEEL like a whiner. I am so incredibly blessed and I love my family so much and somehow it all just overwhelmed me this year. I long for simplicity and love and quiet. It is hard to find it in the midst of all these people I love. I think next year I want to change some things. I think after 11 years of having a giant Christmas party, I am ready to change it. I want it to be different. I hope next year Christmas will feel different. I want to feel the wonder of the season. My love of Christmas feels like a treasure I should love and cherish–protect in some way. As I wrote that, the tears came, so I figure I...
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To my husband, You are the love of my life. You make my life richer, fuller, more interesting and so full of love. When we decided to join our lives together I had dreams of flowers and romance and making each other happy. And there have been days like that. But the reality of our marriage has been so much more complex. We challenge each other and take on big challenges and lifetime commitments together. We make life changing decisions together. Marriage involves an intimacy that takes my breath away when I allow myself to think about it. You have seen me at my worst and you love me anyway. You have been so incredibly mad at me and still you love me so much. The intimacy of that love year after year is astounding. At every juncture there is a choice to keep committing to our love or to get annoyed, give up and stop. Every time, you choose love. I know you love me because of how you care for our lives. The evidence of the love you have for our family is all around us. It is clear in the way you care for our children and make time for them. It is in the grass you cut, in the swimming pool you maintain, it is in the white picket fence that lines our 2-acre property that you repair and replace pickets for each year. A couple of years ago someone recommended we replace that fence with something that would require less maintenance. I couldn’t imagine trading it in–it is a symbol for me of the love in our lives. Your love shows when you give me the car with the gas tank full and make sure the oil gets changed. We haven’t chosen an easy life, but one full of love and care. You show me that love every day. When we got married, I thought marriage was about love and kisses but what I know now is that being...
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I went for a hike yesterday that took every bit of me. Before lunch we took a quick trip to Tiffany Falls. It is about 1.2 km and it was an easy walk. After lunch we went on the “long hike.” We went to Sulphur Springs road and we were walking on a loop that circles around the Hermitage Ruins and the Rail Trail Station. What a gorgeous trail with stunning vistas, moss-covered rocks breaking away from the edges of the trail, old forests and wide open meadows. This trail has everything. The sign said it was 3.4 km and I think it was true, except that we missed a turn and got lost. I have had some struggles with walking. In 2010 I hurt my SI joint and then I had a really bad fall. After I thought I had almost recovered, I was walking across the street one day and my leg stopped walking. I was essentially stranded in the middle of the road. I recovered partially, but have been compromised physically since then. Two summers ago we were discussing whether or not we needed to buy a wheelchair as back-up. I believed at that time I would probably never go on a walk again. I had MRIs and saw a specialist. It was unclear what was going on, but I assumed my condition was progressive and I would have to make the best of it. About 18 months ago I lost weight and worked with a nutritionist who hypothesized that I was allergic to corn. I cut corn from my diet and started to recover. I got better. I was able to walk much better last summer but I still wasn’t able to hike. I felt cautious and afraid of strenuous activity. I didn’t venture out much. In February I hired a trainer and started to work out. We are planning a trip to Europe this summer and I set a goal of walking 5 miles before we leave in July....
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Mel’s dad was in town and we were looking for something to do. He had heard about an amazing exhibit of Florentine Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario and he took us out for the day. We had a great time! It was also a fun day for 8-year-old boys which was unexpected. I will try to share what made it great for them, too. We drove into Toronto, exited the Gardiner Expressway at Spadina, turned right on Dundas and parked in a parking garage. This allowed us to explore China Town and walk to the AGO a block away. We went to a Dim Sum restaurant that seemed to be for a Chinese clientele rather than a tourist crowd. They had a big sign out front that said “All Day Dim Sum.” It is 2 doors down from Rol Jui right next to a bank. I can see it on Google street view but it doesn’t seem to have an English sign. We sat down and food started arriving. This was one of the parts that made this day great for my 8-year-olds. They got to pick food off the carts and they loved it. They got to eat a lot of shrimp. We had dumplings and fried sashimi and a dish with duck and vegetables. We got a giant bowl of wonton soup to share and it was lovely. The dumplings were very tasty. The Sticky Rice was good. I loved eating family style and sharing all the bits. We finished off with sesame balls for dessert. The atmosphere was vibrant and alive. I have ordered Dim Sum before in restaurants but this was my first time in a Dim Sum restaurant. It was fantastic. Next we walked through Chinatown and looked at the many curios and foods on display as we made our way to the museum. We were on an adventure. The boys enjoyed the walking. The only glitch was the boys had tea at lunch and ended up a bit jacked...
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We were impressed by the quick greeting we got from a staff member taking our order. We needed to check some food allergies and they brought out some very useful food sheets that made ordering easy. They took our order and our money and we waited in line.
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