OBITUARY: She had beautiful almond skin and although her voice was a little loud and she refused to be gentle or do anything by hand, she was a solid member of our family. She had her quirks: she was finicky about permanent press (you had to start her 2/3 of the way through the dial or she just wouldn't budge); had only one cycle (well, 2/3 of a cycle anyway); and believed that as long as things smelled clean they didn't actually have to be clean. May our washing machine rest in peace.
We had been thinking of replacing our ancient almond duo, but thought we'd have more time. Instead, our washer breathed her last (very loud) breath and refused to be revived.
Oh, who am I kidding. Good riddance! We are now the proud parents of a brand new, gleaming white, highly rated, extremely efficient, front load washer (with more cycles than I can count...I'm so used to making do with just 2/3 of a cycle!). And what the heck, we sprung for the matching dryer too. Since the old one took 90 minutes to dry a load, we thought it would be a good idea.
So, if anyone is looking for buying advice, let me know. I've read every on-line review, compared all the specs, done the cost benefit analysis, haggled with a multitude of salesmen, and been to every store in town.
Where to start! Let's start with the movie I went to with Andrea on Monday. It was called Innocence (at the Bytown), and despite the technical difficulties (it turned into a dubbed french version 30 minutes into it... the problem was fixed, but it kind of ruined the flow for a while), it was very good. Unlike most movies, it was partly a drama and partly a comedy. I think it's safe to say that Andrea and I were both extremely moved by it. Certainly in my case it affected me in a deeply personal way. Many of the issues that emerged in the film, are ones that I spend hours and hours thinking about: love, life, and death. Sorry folks but you won't be getting the details...those are reserved for my diary (which I started after I went to the movie!). There were a number of very profound moments in the film. In one, the main male character, faced with his own mortality while in hospital, says (and I'm paraphrasing): "If there were no such thing as God, we would all find that we are all the same." Kind of profound given the current state of the world.
Walks with my father have led us farther afield this week. For a change of pace, we walked around the market on Tuesday. For lunch, we went to Lapointe's. I never even knew they had a restaurant in the basement. My father had a clam chowder that he said was excellent, and I had a mixed greens salad and a couple of shrimp spring rolls. It was very good.
Yesterday, I needed to go to Loblaws. Things were getting desperate: no milk; no toothpaste; no baby food. We went to the Loblaws on McArthur (my current favourite) and decided to eat at Pizarros, which is across the street (we had a coupon). It didn't have much atmosphere and the food was okay. I probably wouldn't return. I had pasta with a pancetta, mushroom and creamy tomato sauce. There were about 5 tiny slivers of pancetta and a few very ordinary sliced mushrooms. No big whoop.
I'm starting to wonder if Devon is ever going to crawl. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock, but then she just gives up. She may actually walk first. She can stand on her own while holding onto something, even with one hand. Also, when you hold her hands, she's starting to take little experimental steps (some forwards, some sideways, some backwards). I would have expected her to be crawling by now, but I guess she's just not interested. No problem with me. We have the least baby-proof house on the planet.
I'm off now to a party at the house of a former boss. He's just gone on sabbatical and is getting all the former staff together for a shindig. Should be fun!
Since I'm on a quest to try every restaurant in the neighborhood, I thought I should publicize my results.
Today we went to John's Quick Lunch at 1365 Wellington. Jeff and I sometimes order pizza from here, but I've only had lunch once before. A year or so ago they did a major facelift to the place. It used to be more of a greasy spoon, but it's now has more charm. It's very clean and the staff are friendly and helpful (example, when our soup arrived, the waitress had brought an extra tiny little bowl and spoon for Devon...without being asked). I had the chicken salad club and my Dad had the roast beef sandwich special. Both came with soup *and* salad *and* a choice of potato, fries or rice...all for $7.95. The food was very good and I'd definitely go again. I imagine it would be a great place for breakfast.
I won't go back and write much about any of the other restaurants we've tried, but here's a quick summary. The yays: Thyme & Again (abfab...but often too crowded), Donna's (same as the Newport), Wellington Soup and Sandwich (a particularly good find). The nay: the cafeteria in the medical building at the corner of Holland and Carling...big yuck and yes, we should have known better.
We had a great weekend. On Saturday we hiked the Jack Pine Trail feeding the chickadees along the way. Devon stared in open-mouthed wonder as the birds ate out of our hands.
Yesterday we joined the Tomkins clan in a hunt for the perfect pumpkin. Many photos of babies and gourds were taken. We then headed back to M&A's for a yummy meal and good company (ever tried having an adult conversation when there is a toddler and two babies in the room? A lot of sentences were started but never finished!). Ahhhh, the life of a parent.
We put Devon to bed as usual around 7:15pm last night. Around 10pm we heard her crying. We went in to find the poor little thing completely stuffed up. We had to resort to the nose suction. This produced many tears. We were up again 4 or 5 times in the night for more suctioning. Poor thing! This is her first illness. A few times in the past, I thought she was sick, but this is the real thing. Her nose is like a faucet.
To top it all off, I came downstairs to discover only about 15 beans left in the coffee jar! I had to resort to grinding up what we had, putting the grinds in a mug with hot water, then filtering it into another mug. It was actually quite good and will keep me going until I can get to Bridgehead this afternoon.
