Mad Busy July!!

And I thought the month of June was busy…I never even had a minute to myself all month long.  The stress management course, assertiveness skills, PTP, daily masses at Holy Family and my digital publishing course all were a part of my mad busy July.  I wanted to be in the Orange Parade back on July 11th, but a leg injury kept me from it.  Ironically, the only thing missing from the month of July was a Medieval Times visit.  There was no place in my schedule (or enough money) to go this month, so a BIG apology to all my MT friends (if they read this blog).  I might be able to go sometime in August.  This month was mostly about getting to know Fr. Michael, the new priest in our church.  While missing the Orange Parade, I was at home that day planning to make a rosary for him.  I went to get the beads, crucifix, centrepiece and wire at Arton Beads two days later.  The following Thursday I told Fr. Dan that I was finished and showed him the rosary I made.  He told me that he would be overwhelmed by the gift.  Three days later, that Sunday, I came to church after buying a pair of socks.  I had the rosary in my fanny pack, and I saw Fr. Michael standing by the doorway.  I came right up to him and presented him with the rosary.  Needless to say I made a new friend that day, and I felt quite blessed by the experience.  He even gave me a mass card of his ordination, seeing how I missed it because nobody informed me of it.  May the Lord bless him and help him to grow in holiness, and I will keep him in my prayers every day.   I’ll try to post more frequently now that things are slowing down.

Catching Up!!!

Time for some major catching up, seeing how busy a month June was!  There were courses galore;  PTP, stress management, and assertiveness training, signing up for a college course in desktop publishing for a future career (and a possible new business…but let’s not go there just yet!).  Toastmasters kept me very busy, getting the last two manual speeches under my belt.  There were three parades to get through as well, so that’s why I haven’t been able to post.  I even made a permanent return to Holy Family after a two and a half year absence.  My secondary blog will be dedicated to my life in the parish and how I reconnect with everyone I left behind.  I even missed the ordination of a new priest in our church (I really regret that, but nobody even told me about it).  All in all, I will (at least) try to keep posting regularly, as things start winding down.   Beavers ended last week, but nobody told me that either.  I am beginning to draw a conclusion that I’m the last to know everything around me!  Oh well.  This past week has been quite eventful.  Friday was my TM officer’s training night.  I learned a lot of things about my role as Sergeant at Arms.  Saturday I visited Medieval Times, and for the first time in four years I received the ‘Queen of Love and Beauty’ banner from the newest knight there (I’m totally surprised…Red Knight rocks!!).  Wednesday was the Aurora Canada Day parade, and the weather co-operated.  I played very well this time, finally getting the hang of playing and marching at the same time.  Things will start getting interesting as Tuesdays will replace Thursdays as busy days when my desktop publishing intro course starts this Tuesday night.

A Ride Into the Past

I started my busy Sunday by going to the Horse Palace to see the competitions put on by the mounted unit of the Toronto Police during Doors Open Toronto.  The most interesting part was the obstacle course where they get the horses used to the obstacles they would encounter on the daily route.  It was interesting to see some horses actually going through the course without a hitch.  Here is a picture of one of them:

During the obstacle course

I realised I had to go to Susan’s candle party up in Scarborough, so I decided to travel on the Harbourfront line.  I spotted an old PCC streetcar (circa 1952) and decided to wait until he pulled up to the stop if the driver was actually letting people ride in it.  To my surprise, he said that the streetcar will operate every Sunday on that line between 11:30 am to 7:30 pm until Labour Day!  I jumped at the chance and rode in what felt like a time machine and a lot of memories played in my mind all trip long.  Ironically, it was four years to the day me and my aunt took a railfan trip all around the streetcar network (except for St. Clair because of the Right of Way hullaballoo, and Bathurst due to track replacement) in car #4549.  If I would have known this, I would have brought my plastic canvas streetcar bank to show him. Here is the shot of a real classic!:

At the end I thanked the driver for the ride into history.  Susan’s candle party was really fun and the turnout was great, but I had a hard time finding the place.  She told her niece to look for me and it didn’t take her long to get there.  It was situated behind a mall.  Once I got there, the items were so beautiful I couldn’t make up my mind what to get.  Once again the weather was gorgeous!  See you next post!

On Your Marks, Get Set, Go!

It’s been at least three years since the Skyline area Kub Kar rally happened, but it was well worth the wait.  Unfortunately only 30 kids showed up from four different groups, but everyone in attendance had fun.  Our Beavers had the best Beaver Buggy turnout, having all six cars from our group entered.  I got to be the starter of the race, pulling the lever which released all the cars.  Some of the kids had problems with their cars but they were just minor ones.  Two cars jumped the track (twice each car), and some parts falling off three others, but we got that fixed.  Congratulations to Liam Nunn of the 403rd Toronto for winning the rally and Ashley from the 78th Toronto winning the design division (a flying pencil), and all who turned out on a sunny day at Parkdale Public School.  I feel somewhat left out from a birthday party one of our Beavers had.  Everyone in the group received an invitation but me, and I was at the meeting when they were handed out.  I don’t know why either.  The rest of this past week was mostly spent at my course at PTP, the Toastmasters meeting (which I’m being voted in as the Sargeant-at-arms for the second year in a row…thank you to all who voted for me), and the Beaver buggy assembly night on Thursday.  I can’t complain about the weather we have been blessed with over the course of this week!  It’s been wonderful and sunny throughout.  I am currently in the middle of creating my eighth speech, writing about the qualities of a good emcee, based on my experiences in the Toastmaster role I have been through since joining our club, all my emcee friends and those I have watched at different events.  That’s all for now!

I Love a Parade!

Yes, but I love being in a parade even more.  Yesterday me and my fellow band mates (we went as the Unity Flute and Drum Corps)  went to Woodstock for their annual Victoria Day parade.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather (16 C and sunny).  Lots of people turned out to watch the festivities.  I felt a lot better than I did at the Pickering parade.  Here are some pics:

Me posing with the lance after the parade

The Phillipino Heritage Band

The Simcoe Marching Band

Our band was first to march in the parade (oh, the pressure!), but the advantage was seeing the rest of it after we finished.  We practiced twice before the tattoo, and once we entered the arena, we immediately got the crowd going.  I thoroughly enjoyed myself the whole day.  I want to do this again next year (this time playing my glockenspiel!).

I haven’t been able to post all week (it’s been so hectic going back and forth).  Last Tuesday I started my pre-employment course at PTP Toronto.  I have to travel to Kipling and Dundas three days a week but it is totally worth it.  So far I’m learning a lot about myself and my talents and finding which one will give me a great career in the near future.  Friday I replaced the screws on my glockenspiel, which took me three hours to accomplish.  Saturday was spent walking only five dogs in bad weather.  Oscar, Zeus and Smiley are still there, plus there was a cute pom mix that fit into both my hands (her name is Boo), and a huge Great Pyrenees named Laurie.  All weekend long I looked after Cindy, my upstairs neighbour’s cat while her owner was in Michigan for her granddaughter’s graduation.  Sunday I went to look for paint to paint my Pith helmet for the parade, fixed the buttons on my uniform jacket, and rewarded myself later with a trip to Medieval Times at the Ex.  This time I was in the blue section, but my knight didn’t win.  I received a flower from him, and thanked him for it later.  I even had a nice long chat with the MC before the show.  We were very glad to see each other.  Here are a couple of pics:

Andrew, our MC for the show on Sunday.  He rocks the house!

Me and the blue knight and my present from him.  A huge THANKS!

Well, that’s all for now…until next post!

My Creative Side Revisited

Sometimes it’s hard to decide what to do when you have different talents.  I had to decide between making a crocheted wrist warmer and a folk art popsicle stick lamp.  I started the wrist warmer on Thursday after the Beaver meeting using a simple pattern. I started with chain 38 for 23 rows, sew the top 6 stitches to the thumb and then sew the bottom part for 19 stitches leaving a hole for the thumb.  I completed them last night while watching the Nascar Darlington race (congratulations to Mark Martin by the way!).  Here’s what they look like:

Here’s a limerick about my next pet project:

A young lady with the nickname of Nix, wants to build something from popsicle sticks, she decided on a lamp, from an artform known as ‘tramp’, well Nix with her sticks is the chick!

Clever huh?  So far here’s the base:

I will update everyone on how it’s going so far.  It won’t take long (I promise).  I took my mom out to the Dufferin Gate restaurant for some chicken wings and fries and we had a great time.  I will end the day with a Mother’s Day hug for her.  Happy Mother’s day to all the mothers out there in WP-land and abroad!!

Electronic Woes

Ever had one of those days when it seems that everyday electronic gadgets have a mind of their own?  My TV has been going on and off all day (a thin line was the only visible thing on it), and every 4 hours of so it would come back on normally.  Even my computer kept freezing on me every few times while searching for postal codes for work.  My cellphone even told me that my account only had fifteen cents of airtime left (strange for someone who only gets one cell phone call per month).  At least my MP3 was co-operating.

Rant of the day: King Street West underpass: me and Mom were walking in that area to get to the Second Cup at King and Strachan, and out of ten cyclists, only one walked her bicycle through it.  One jerk even gave us the finger (the nerve).  Clearly at the entrance it says ‘Cyclists Dismount’, but it seems the sign should be lowered so cyclists can read it (or they should just look up!), or bollards should be placed at the entrances so they are discouraged from cycling through.

P.S. – Happy Cinco de Mayo to my Mexican friends

May the 4th Be With You

I thought I would use the blog title as a joke one of the priests at the church I once frequented told me ten years ago, and it’s also dedicated to all my fellow Star Wars fans.  My weekend was filled with all kinds of ups and downs.  First was the dog walking on Saturday.  I only had six dogs to walk, but they were all easy to walk.  My favourite one was Oscar, the little corgi.  Even the kids passing by at the Ex fell in love with his cute face.  Later that night I decided to go to Toi Bar in the Little Italy area, but only eight people showed up at the place (huge downer), but I saw a great friend of mine shortly before I left and it made my stay much more special.  Too bad I couldn’t stay longer.  Sunday was a definite upper.  Before lunch I traveled up to the Yorkdale area to look for a red hoodie I wanted to buy, but they were either too short or too big (royal downer).  I stopped at a cafe called Cranberries Cafe at 3200 Dufferin Street at Sambor Drive.  They had a wonderful Colombian decaf (a must-try).  After lunch I went to Medieval Times at the Ex and cheered for the yellow knight (he won!) and I had a wonderful time there.  Then it was off to marching practice (again only a small turnout, about ten of us when there should have been eighteen), but we all did very well.  Woodstock, here we come!  Today me and mom decided to go to the Parkdale library and I borrowed the ‘Blogging for Dummies book (someone has to start somewhere!), and ‘Dog Days at the White House’ by Traphes Bryant.  As soon as I’m finished the books I will give a small review of them.

Hello world!

Welcome to my new blog, which will include all kinds of goings-on in my life, places I visit, rants, raves and interesting adventures of my life in Toronto.  Pull up a chair and visit my blog often!