Snow and ice!

January 27/13.

The good news? Got a new bed for Christmas (after 29 years of service from the old one!) The bad news? It got delivered in the middle of the remnants of a snowstorm! The Sleep Country guys had to bring in the box spring in two pieces, (since there was no way to get it up the hairpin staircase turns in ONE piece). The mattress was squashed to make it to the second floor. And then getting rid of the old mattress?

hard to see here, but this is the old one being dumped over the balcony to the back deck below, into a pile of snow,

and then carted off through the living room to the truck for removal. Meanwhile, no one could get by the massive van on the street. One angry woman banged on my door and complained loudly and bitterly, while the workman turned to her and said, "It's called - a DELIVERY." Cars had to wait about 12 minutes before they could make their way along our street. (We were NOT popular that day).

Meanwhile, lots of folks had NO problem with the snow and cold. This hale and hearty gang couldn't wait to toboggan down the hill at Withrow Park, enjoying every minute!

After the bed delivery, I paid a visit to Bath n' Bedtime at Lawrence Plaza to spend the gift certificate from Sam to buy new linens. Lucky for me, there was a big after-Christmas sale!

Got a Duvet cover, two sets of sheets/pillowcases and a bedskirt for a total of $175. (according to the price tags, the Duvet cover was reduced from $319 to $59.95)! It was tough to decide on the pattern with so many to choose from, but a voice from somewhere way up above - (Auntie Ray!), told me, "Make it BOLD!" I heard her loud and clear in my head.

So I listened and did just that! Fun to have a nice new, fresh BOLD look!

This month is chock full of medical appointments. Every six months, it's time for follow-ups with Princess Margaret Hospital to check on all the breast cancer issues. On this day?

another mammogram. (Never used to bother me, but after surgery, getting squished between those plates of plexiglass - hurts)! Hopefully, it will all be good news.

Afterwards, for a treat, a visit to Druxy's in the hospital lobby for french toast! Delish! (Always fighting to get that weight up to 100!)

In between hospital visits, a stop at Loblaws for some colourful flowers to keep the spirits up! The docs tell me everything works TOGETHER to keep you well, - mind, body and soul.

On the night of January 19th, a huge, blustery storm hit us overnight. We heard a massive crash at about
3 a.m. and when the sun came up, we discovered several giant tree branches had broken off and crashed on to the sidewalk, exactly where I usually park my car! Luckily, I parked a bit further down the road that evening, so no damage. Whew!

Seems this beautiful tree across the street from us might have to come down altogether.

 I hope not, but it's dangerous!

Later that evening, my daughter, Kate and I went to the AMC theatre,

 to catch more of the January retrospective they're running. Love the gorgeous shot of Marilyn on the wall!

We went to see Hitchcock's original Rear Window. - Only 6 bucks per ticket. It was great seeing it on the big screen - and I forgot the ending is so gripping - and also kind of funny. Jimmy Stewart was brilliant, Grace Kelly, stunning and Thelma Ritter, just great! Terrific film. Kate had never seen it before.

On the way out of of the theatre, this giant tried to grab me! Yikes!

The next morning at 9, the city crew came to pick up the pieces of the broken tree,

and take them away.

It was also my cousin Kevio's birthday. I'd already given him his gift, but decided to trek over to Mary MacLeod's shortbread store on Queen Street East to get him a dozen traditional (and fabulous) cookies.

The minute I delivered them, he had to have one! Yum! Kevan is doing spectacularly well after major surgery. I'm so happy!

(And no sharing cookies with the dog)! Sorry!

Then over to No Frills for some grocery shopping, where Valentines galore are everywhere - even in the processed meat aisle! ha ha!

January 25th - back to Princess Margaret to see Dr. Koch, radiation oncologist, who checked me out (in my stylish gown) and said she feels everything is OK. The mammogram report was good! Yay!

And finally, January 26th - the Liberal convention. Sam NEVER watches TV, but for this, he made an exception and kept an eye on the tiny set in his office. It was a Wynne-win with Kathleen Wynne taking the premiership!

While voting was underway, I headed to Urban Nails, (where they had just finished their renovation work at 4 a.m.), to get a shiny shellac job from master nail expert, Tom. The place was hopping and looked just lovely after the week-long closing for refurbishment.

A fab new bubble chandelier and shiny new walls!

All new cabinets for the towels and microwave ovens.

The place looks so pretty and inviting!

and the joint was jumping! Everyone was all a-buzz over the new look! Kevin and his team should be proud of getting the reno work done ON TIME and not leaving any customers out in the cold! If you want to try shellac, come to this place. EVERYONE is good, but ask for Tom. He's unbelievably talented!

On the way home, I stopped to check out the hill at Riverdale Park, where lots of folks were listening to Dr. Sidney Freedman of M*A*S*H who once said,

Thanks Sidney! Will do!

Catching up!

January 18/13.

Last blog entry, I left out a couple of events involving my fab fam. Shortly after we shuffled into the new year, my sister, Carrie, was invited to attend a special Polka Dot Door reunion party at a downtown restaurant. She was one of the talented co-hosts of the TVO show for many years. (Fabulous singing voice and an amazing puppeteer, if I do say so myself!)

She had fun catching up with one of her fave co-hosts, Johnie Chase at the reunion bash.


Here's Carrie doing her best to drum up big bucks for TVO!


Check out Carrie singing the infamous Polkaroo Flying in Space! (and at the end, you'll see Johnie, too!)

The reunion event was organized by Travis Doucette, (a young man intent on archiving every episode)! He spends countless hours posting Polka Dot Door clips on YouTube for the thousands of diehard fans of the old show!

The Polkaroo wasn't there for the get-together, - (you mean we missed him again???), but here's a shot of Carrie with the popular character from a previous occasion. When asked why he didn't attend, he responded simply, in his usual fashion, - "Polkaroo???" Alrighty then!

Carrie shoe-horned the reunion into her life in between singing gigs, other time-consuming jobs and shuttling her son, Lee to baseball games and school events.

She has one very busy life.

And Lee has been mucho busy too with his glamourous girlfriend, Emily!

Meanwhile, my sister-in-law, Carolyn, and her hubby, Neil, (not pictured here!) are on a fabulous South American cruise. They've been to Chile, to Ushuaia, Argentina (the southernmost town/city in the world), the Falkland Islands, rounded Cape Horn and visited the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile where they encountered condors, rheos (small emus) and this big guy - a guanaco (like a llama). They say the weather has been great, the locations beautiful and the food, delicious! The lucky ducks have missed some mighty cold temperatures here!

Here now is a pic of my cousin Kevio when he and his fam first got their new Weimaraner pup, Kalou. (Kev was trying to teach her how to sleep, to no avail!) They became good pals pretty quickly.

Now, Kalou has grown a lot! She's about a year-and-a-half old and has been taking extra good care of her owner as he triumphs over a few health issues. (nothing like a lick on the head to make you feel better!) Sheesh.

As for me, I've had more follow-up appointments at Princess Margaret Hospital. They monitor my medical condition every few months to make sure I'm OK. This day I was visiting the shrink, who helps me cope with the ups and downs of life.

I read the inspiration board while I was there. (City TV reporter Cynthia Mulligan, who went through her own public battle with cancer, always encouraged me to, "Check the board!") This time it reminded me of the mind/body connection,

which led to me Druxy's, the hospital deli in the lobby, where I had a grilled cheese sandwich on toasted multi-grain bread and a cup of Earl Grey tea! Cheerio!

The next day, (in my continuing quest to gain some weight!), I had lunch with my old pal, Rob Davidson. We first met back in the '80s as radio reporters, when I was at CFTR (680 News) and he was upstairs at CHFI, and then we spent more years working together as entertainment reporters at Global TV. He is a very good guy and always makes me laugh! (And when HE lets loose that laugh of HIS, it actually makes you feel as though you are funny)! Thanks for making the trek, Rob. Great to see you! (Rob has his own company, Lunchroom Productions and also works with ex-Globalite Dave Hatch for his company, WhistleStop Productions, and spent the morning interviewing blues musician Danny Marks before heading to The Friendly Greek to meet me).

And today, it was back to Princess Margaret again,

this time for an annual mammogram.

They didn't used to bother me, but after the breast cancer surgery, yikes-o-rama, that really hurts!

And before taking off, one more stop at Druxy's,

(I don't want to cook anymore!!) -

today, it was French toast, maple syrup and fresh fruit! (at this rate, I should be back up to 100 pounds in no time!)