Slow & steady!

December 2/12.

A fun afternoon at Danforth & Logan today! Horse drawn carriage rides, 

all along the Danforth,

big blue Christmas tree,

live holiday music, (sorry for the blurry shot!), 

and several St. Nicks, (some without their beards!), 

all in honour of the March of the Santas fundraiser!

The stars of the show? The Toronto firefighters, (this is David), on hand to promote

the Toronto Firefighter Calendar 2013 with proceeds going to the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre!

After all my experience with breast cancer and so many visits to the PMH, I HAD to buy a calendar for $20! Cover boy Chris Casa (West Command) autographed his pic for me. 

Love what he wrote. It says, 

Elaine - We find 'em HOT and leave 'em WET!! xoxo

ha ha!

David ("Mr. April") wrote: 

Elaine - Let's get dirty this spring! (in silver Sharpie above the pic).

And Geoff (one of four "Mr. May" men - second from left), said, Elaine, Walk tall...carry a BIG HOSE!!!

Photography is by Emile Marino and Melanie Partington.

Anyone can order a copy by going to this website: www.torontoffc.ca

Afterwards I headed over to my fave nail salon,

Urban Nails, 

for a new Shellac manicure, by Tom, a true master of the art! Owner Alec had hung up a new selection of bright, pretty, colourful decorations. (and there's no shortage of magazines, even though you can't read them while you're getting your nails done!)

Earlier in the week, my lovely daughter, Kate, attended an 80's themed party and dressed the part,

gorgeous, intricate makeup and all! (I think she could become a makeup artist)!
Hmmmmmmm. Wonder where she gets her interest in makeup??????

November 25th was my Dad's birthday. Rex Loring is 87! - Nothing quite like the delightful combo of a British beer and a red velvet cupcake! Now make a wish and blow out the candle!

The birthday destination? The Coach & Four, his fave pub in Oakville.

My sister, Carrie and I brought balloons, and an LCBO gift card - (the gift you NEVER return!) Carrie did the driving, as I would be useless navigating to Oakville - (even with GPS). As it was, we ended up semi-lost at one point due to circumstances beyond our control!

We had a great time with Dad, as always, telling stories, joking and laughing about the good old days - (and the NEW days).

Nothing like having a drink with your Dad. We're proud of him. He keeps busy, maintains that fab sense of humour and incredible deep newscaster voice, still drives, cooks his own meals, travels on cruises, writes speeches, M.C.s military events, makes dubs of VHS tapes and DVDs for friends, helps others in need and pretty much NEVER has a dull moment! (My kinda guy!) Love to you and have a happy and healthy year ahead! 

Cheers!

Meanwhile, our son, Max (soon to turn 18), got a special pre-Christmas/Hannukah/birthday gift from us. A new Dell laptop! Here he's loading up The Who's Tommy CD on the computer. (funny how the CD cover almost matches our den blanket, bought in Mexico decades ago). To this day, it's my favourite blanket of all time!

Sam and I are thrilled to be able to make him happy with this present. (and may I say, he has great taste in blogs - he's reading mine here - Lain's Log! - pic with NewsTalk 1010's Ted Woloshyn). I'm quite sure this laptop will get mega-use and be a HUGE help to him in future years! Enjoy Max!

Went shopping at the brand new Walmart at Gerrard Square - (pic sneakily taken on Max's iPhone after the friendly "greeter" yelled at me a few weeks ago, "NO pictures in the store"! - Oh, and Welcome to Walmart!) -  Max stole a line of dialogue from Jack Black in School of Rock, telling me,  - "Stick it to The Man!" We went in, took a quick shot in the tinsel aisle, and vacated the premises pronto, sans trouble.

I went in to buy some very late birthday gifts

for our newest little cousin, Sienna. Her 1st birthday was back in June, but she was in Malta at the time with her parents, so I never got prezzies to her. This week, she and her Mum (also my cousin - stunning Sacha), are returning to Toronto, so I delivered the gifties to my cousin, Kevio, for safe keeping till their arrival.

(Hopefully, by now, they've opened them)! It's been six months since we've seen Sienna, so who knows what she looks like NOW??
Adorable, I'm sure!

Turning now to the animal kingdom in our household - Tru, our cat! Ai carumba. Has she ever been keeping me busy. This crazy Devon Rex is going on 16-years-old and having trouble with arthritis, a yeast ear infection and conjunctivitis. She does NOT do well with visits to hospitals, so, we managed to track down a fantastic mobile vet who makes house calls! Yippee!

Introducing the charming Dr. Annabel Musson (right) with her friend and equally delightful assistant, Sharon - (registered vet technician). Together, they managed to collect a blood sample from the jugular vein, clean out her ears and eyes, pull out small, matted tufts of hair and administer pain medication for her arthritis. I can highly recommend these kind and talented medical pros who have no problem looking after your pet while he (or she) is in the comfort of their own little bed!

They both LOVED Tru and took her picture for their own site! If you need help from a wonderful travelling pet doc, you can reach Dr. Musson at: drmusson8@gmail.com

I got detailed instructions and have been administering all drugs to Tru, daily, on my own, with a little help from Kate & Max. The kitty seems to be doing much better already!

While on the subject of doctors, I paid a visit to Princess Margaret Hospital for a checkup on November 30th. Despite getting very little sleep lately, and weight still hovering at 95 or 96 pounds, they tell me, all is well. Mammogram and other tests coming up in January 2013.

The Christmas tree and Santa Claus in the lobby at Princess Margaret Hospital.

While out at Gerrard Square again the other day, (this time with Max - his pal Santa in the background), we bought boxes of Christmas cards, some takeout Chinese food,

and every year, I buy one new holiday decoration. This year? - a Martha Stewart 50-light garland from Home Depot. (and once again, nobody yelled at us for taking a pic!) - Didn't buy the Poinsettia, but it sure was pretty! Will buy one closer to Christmas.

To wrap things up in a slow moving way, I will show you a funny pic. As Max and I were leaving the mall, we approached my dusty black Subaru in the parking lot, and noticed someone had drawn a picture on the hood of the car!

It was very clearly an artist's rendition of a turtle! Had to laugh! In MY opinion, someone I know in the neighbourhood used their finger to sketch this creature to indicate that I am a slow driver! My husband insists this is NOT the case, (since he has seen me drive). The only response I have to this picture is, if YOU had recently fought a speeding ticket in court, YOU would be driving like a turtle too! - And hey, - to quote Aesop's fable, The Tortoise and the Hare, - "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for slow and steady won the race!"
Hoo haw!