Celebrating 142 years of Canada

Fireworks are such a glorious celebration. It's difficult not to forget yourself and enjoy them.

For Canada Day we met up with friends and walked to Spencer Smith Park.  With the rain spitting down, it seemed as though the evening might be a bust.  But instead, the clouds cleared and accompanied by such songs as "What a wonderful world," the colours and lights exploded against the sky.  What an inspirational spectacle of exileration. 

Gone to Soon

Here's my young looking boss and friend Tiziana Buttignol holding her grandson.  I told her she looked like a filmstar breezing into Toronto for the festival.  Although I've worked for her five years, most of our communication is by email.

Not surprising, I suppose, that I learned via email of her death Monday June 29.  A heart attack should only happen to overweight smokers or 92 year olds who have no one to look after them. It's not fair.

And I still catch myself going to email her with ideas or articles I've seen that maybe could translate into a piece for our magazine.  Her emails seem so alive to me.

Now the rest of us have the most difficult job of putting out an issue without her at the helm. 

Sean Cassidy comes to Bruce T. Lindley School

Thursday, June 18 Sean Cassidy came to my local school where Hunter attends grade 2.  We were pretty excited since we love Gummy Toes and Sometimes it's Good to be Small.  We also love his art in Wake up Henry and especially Hannah Bear's Christmas.  Not knowing his schedule, I einvited him for lunch.  Lots of times, authors and illustrators have to drive straight off to avoid the rush hour crush. But we were lucky.  I also attended the "readings" which were more  interactive drawing and reading motivational talks for the young and restless.  I loved how the kids got right into it, bums in the air, tongues hanging out in concentration.  My photos don't quite capture their enthusiasm and total absorption.  I drew too and that was fun.  Sean taught us all to draw expressions, happy, sad, angry and then by mixing up happy mouths with angry eyes to show other moods.

Although I always enjoy author or illlustrator talks, I really didn't expect to have so much fun.  

Snakes and lizards Ontario Science Centre

Today we were excited to attend the press sneak preview of the Snakes and Lizards exhibit at the Ontario Centre.  It was baby Jadzia's first visit and she liked the Sparks section especially the baby portion with the blocks.

The we went to Budha Dog for Today's Parent Toronto.  We love hot dogs and this was a sufficiently different kind of place, very eco and local produce.  Our conscience was fine eating 10 of the suckers.  Afterwards we had Polish pastries and William totally got into his cupcake.

Mustang Mortie

When we first got Mortie, he hated car rides.  He got over his fear to some extent on our road trip to New Brunswick.  This year he's really enjoying the breeze through his fur in the Mustang with the top down.

Ride Mortie, Ride.

Trip to Ottawa--a writing perk

Whenever kids ask me why I write, I'm a little gobsmacked.

I actually wonder why everyone wouldn't  want to write.  I find I'm always explaining the world to myself--it's very therapeutic.

But what about the travel perks?  The other editor with my magazine, Alison Wood, became too busy to do a feature on travel to Ottawa so, with some arranging with Ottawatourism.ca we had a press adventure pass and a free hotel for a couple of nights.

Of course when I travel for Today's Parent Toronto I need to bring a young person and Hunter's always up for the job.  He's a great traveller and enjoys museums, weird food and pools at any hotel.  

He also likes to pose for weird photos.  These won't be in the magazine: Hunter posing over the Eternal Flame so that it looks like he's on fire, Hunter's head poking up in a Polar bear diorama at the Museum of Natural History.

So we had a great mini holiday.  I won't say we made a million but memories are worth a lot too.

Visiting Sudbury

Today I met a great group of students and teachers at Cyril Varne Public School.  I always have fun presenting but it's nice when it seems the students are excited too.  It's wonderful to talk about a book set right in Sudbury (Slam Dunk Robot) to kids who live in Sudbury and have visited Science North.  The teachers also prepared a fabulous pot luck.  Apparently one box of Ritz crackers, with one can of condensed milk and a bag of square Skor bits baked up in a long pan for who knows how long transform in to the most delicious square ever.  And I've eaten at many a potluck and shower before.

I forgot to take out my camera and have a photo taken with the kids.  But I rushed over to Science North immediately where I was asked if I'd like to hold something.  I got to pat Rosie.  See the photo.

Great character, wonderful read

Instead of working day and night, I'm enjoying some reading lately.  I loved Home Free, Sharon Jenning's new book with Sumach.  It's set in the 60's and she's able to capture snippets of the oddity of that era.  The way our parents talked to us or handled abuse or even how acceptable harsh discipline was in that era.  But I love the gutsy girl--which is how the whole series is named.  She wants a friend and becomes an even better one to the secondary character and to the reader.

Mortie learns to drive

Because we were leaving our jackapoo Mortie with Jen and Adam and because William is crazy for cars, we succumbed to buying a silly carbed for Mortie.  We kind of knew he'd prefer his old chewed up one and we were right.

We found Hunter loved driving down the stairs in the car. William enjoyed sitting in it.  We even placed baby Jadzia in it to lure Mortie just to try.

Finally we stuffed his old bed inside and he sleeps in it just fine.

I notice he has removed the windshield though.