Holiday hobbling!

May 21/12.

Hey! This is officially my 365th blog entry!

After talking about my old Betty & Veronica t-shirt the other day, decided to drag it out, since the weather has been so gorgeous! My sister, Carrie, gave me this shirt a few years ago, and I LOVE it. I've always been an Archie comic fanatic. As a teen, was even a member of the Archie fan club! (I think I still have my membership card stashed away someplace!)

Betty & Veronica were always my faves,

especially the Double Digest books! After countless garage sales, I've NEVER been able to part with any of them!

Yesterday, spent some "exciting time" over at the auto body shop,

waiting for Sam's car to finish a servicing. But it wasn't ready yet. The body shop is just around the corner
from our first house,

on good old De Grassi Street, so went over to pay it a visit. (took forever to get around, since my foot and ankle are still in tons 'o pain from the injury I suffered running last Wednesday). But I'm trying not to let it rule my life. Who wants to stay INSIDE on the long holiday weekend when it's so beautiful out?

Drove to the Danforth on Sunday. It was a pleasure on the roads, since everyone is away at cottages or out of town someplace,

so - zero traffic troubles!

Hit Shoppers. No lineups!

Did spot Justin Bieber, still hangin' out in the cosmetics department he likes so much.

This time, he was joined by his pal, Madonna!

Then, over to Urban Nails,

to see Kevin Nguyen, who runs the place with a lot of style and finesse!

This joint is always jumping, and as someone who never EVER had nails before (bit them all my life, till a few months ago), it always astounds me to watch this salon in action! The manicurists work so hard and do everything professionally, quickly and in good spirits. There's plenty of laughter and chatter and always an abundance of pretty people getting their nails polished. There's a reason this place is so busy. It's FUN!

And when you leave,

you always feel much better! This is Cindy, a real artist! The salon had run out of my favourite shellac colour (Rosebud), so she helped me create a whole new shade by mixing it up a bit, using bright pink Gotcha underneath and the lighter, pearly Strawberry Smoothie as a top coat! She took a long time with me and the results? - Perfect! I STILL find it hard to believe I have fingernails. 

I didn't want to miss all the sunshine, (even though I can't run right now), so took a spin over to the Riverdale running track, - at least to SEE it! -

parked on Broadview, hobbled down to a park bench and sat down to do a bit of writing in a journal, and a letter to a friend (yep, snail mail!)

I SOOOOOOOOOO longed to run, (and would have had the whole track to myself!), but there was just no way. Soon I hope.

When I got home, discovered my daughter, Kate, and her friend, Cadence, were trying out some kind of new clay face mask stuff,

to detox and glorify the complexion!

Hmmmmmm. Maybe I should try it out too! In my current state, I feel like I need all the help I can get! (Maybe this mask stuff can help my foot)!

Later in the day, Kate and her boyfriend, Damian, came home from a walk. They'd discovered a box of books tossed out on the street by a neighbour. Look what they brought me! Just in time for the big House finale tonight! Can't wait to see how the very last show plays out! Sigh.

Photo day!

June 27/11

Carrie & I spent much of the afternoon dealing with something we've been putting off for weeks. Photographs. Mum had thousands of them. Many weeks ago, we ended up stuffing all the pictures, albums and tons of letters into a basement closet, but finally had to drag them OUT OF THE CLOSET in an attempt to widdle them down a bit.

The albums in the above photo, feature shots of Carrie & Garth's wedding - 30 years ago. Carrie sure was a stunning bride. You can see Carrie's pic in my left hand. Next to my right hand, (top pic), is Mum, being escorted down the aisle by Franc (brother of Garth). So many memories of that day. Carrie & I sat and looked thru countless albums, deciding what to do with all the photos. She came up with the idea of removing pics from the albums, since she already has copies of most of them. Then I could select the shots I want to keep, and the EMPTY albums can be thrown into the upcoming garage sale or donated to Goodwill. That way, we don't have to find places to stash heavy photo albums. There are SO many more pictures still to sift through over the coming days.

For some reason, my camera didn't take good shots of the sale items in Mum's house today. I am truly the worst photographer. Here's one of the den/spare bedroom, filled with oddities up for grabs. Looks like the sale will be on Canada Day! Not sure if that's a good idea as many people will be away. However, lots of others will be off work and might be looking for something to do!

We arranged to have a charitable agency come to collect some of Mum's old furniture soon. What we didn't know is, there's a pretty hefty cost attached to that service (even when you're DONATING items), however they issue tax receipts, which we can use next year. Looks like the pick-up will be July 4th - same day as my appointment at Princess Margaret Hospital with the radiation oncologist, and just 72 hours before the closing date! Never a dull moment, as usual.

Meanwhile, didn't get to post any pics from the weekend. My daughter, Kate and her friends are very involved in the PRIDE events. On Sunday, they attended the Stonewall TO march at Queen's Park and had a blast together.

Above is my beautiful Kate, who wrote on her Facebook page, - "Wearing a psychedelic neon dress + turquoise cummerbund + purple feather fascinator to STONEWALL TO! today, because I'm just that awesome." - Love it!

She and her pals ended up heavily sprayed with mega-glitter! (Later, they discovered it's practically impossible to remove)! - So, what the heck? Glitter on!

Cadence - covered in glitter! - Perfect, for her sparkling personality!

Great shot of awesome Arena, the divine Ms. Cadence and inimitable Emily!

Random colourful shots at Stonewall TO!

Kate's boyfriend, Damian, (also covered in glitter)! - Click pic to enlarge and see the "glitterishness"!

I really like Damian! Whatever Kate wants to do, he's into it! Good man!

Sparkle Arena, Sparkle!

Emily rules!!

Kate came home with a Stonewall shirt! (It cost 5 bucks). Good deal!

Coming up? Kate is looking forward to the Trans March on Friday, Dyke March (Saturday) and Pride Parade (Sunday)! - (Mayor Rob Ford, - you'd better get your act together and COME ON DOWN!!!!!!)

Showtime!

May 31/11

Went to a very special performance tonight! My daughter Kate, wrote a complex play called The Prince Spectrum. I saw the first play-reading at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts!

The story focuses on feminism, chivalry and transsexuality. Kate not only wrote it, but had a leading role. I was allowed backstage to take an exclusive shot of the cast, just before showtime! Break a leg gang!

From left to right: Kathleen, Kate, Ben, Cadence, Zoe
All five performers did a fabulous job. Really, just blew me away with their energy, focus and talent.

Got past security and signs to get a picture with the playwright/leading lady! (I know, I'm proud of her! Does it show? - And can you blame me? The kid is awesome!)

Lain & Kate
Mr. Sketchley, the principal, was in the audience (which meant a lot to me), and I hear he thought the play-reading was phenomenal!

Drama teacher, Kim Snider, believes the play is so good, it's ready to be submitted to Buddies in Bad Times and to other queer theatre companies for consideration!

Kate & Damian
Afterwards, Kate was thrilled with the response to the whole event, (and couldn't say enough about her castmates)! She and her boyfriend, Damian walked back to our place, and I left the school feeling so happy and grateful that both of our kids attend such an inspirational, free-spirited high school, where everyone is welcomed with open arms and appreciated for their unique gifts.

Rosedale rules! I fought hard to get Kate & Max into this school - best thing I EVER did as a Mum!