Spring

I realize it is summer - barely. This past spring was wonderful. I had lots of visitors and a few trips and I just realized I haven’t written about any of it. I am taking a break this evening from my working on my latest book and my online shop projects. It’s time to watch Oprah’s life class and do some fun writing and reminiscing.

Mom was my first visitor last spring. Now that she is retired, she can come for longer visits, although ten to twelve days seems to be the limit as to how long Dad functions okay without her. So ten to twelve days it is. I’ll take what I can get.

Since I am seldom home to celebrate Mother’s Day with Mom, I decided to celebrate with her a little early here in Toronto. Arriving in my apartment, Mom walked into my living room and said, “Ohhhhhh, somebody got flowers??” I said “Yes, *you* did!” The look on her face was priceless and we both broke into a fit of laughter. The next Mother’s Day present was high tea. There are several places where you can do this in the city, some stuffier and more formal than others. I didn’t want to subject her to something stuffy or formal because it is not what either of us is about. So I took her to T-buds on Yonge Street for High Tea. I had gone in January to celebrate a friend’s birthday and loved it. I also knew immediately I would take Mom. The selection of tea is incredible and the homemade scones are heavenly.

I love exploring the city with Mom. This past trip we explored Young Street shops for the first time. We saw the Wizard of Oz at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. We had our regular gathering with the Baldwin family, Brian Miller and Mom cooked a few dinners for friends who came over after work. We (Mom, Dee, and I) also went for our traditional mani/pedi and Greek feast on the Danforth.    

Next to come were David and Karen. Dave was in town for a week of meetings and arrived the day that Mom left. The three of us actually got together for lunch at YYZ. Karen flew in on that Friday to spend a long weekend in the city. I had that Friday off so I headed downtown, contributed to the hotel, and spent the weekend with them. We stayed at the Cambridge Suites Inn off Yonge Street. It is a fabulous hotel. It literally is a suite. The main bedroom was closed off from the living room/dining room area. I slept on the pull out and David and Karen took the bedroom. It was like a vacation for me too as when I go downtown it is always for a specific reason. It was nice to have time to do some exploring and I think David was happy I could take Karen and go shopping – something men never seem to enjoy? We went to the Eaton’s Centre as well as new Marshall’s store. Being an avid Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I took Karen down to the Air Canada Centre, which was hopping because the play-offs were on. There was a tail gate party happening and Karen seemed to really enjoy it. It was my first time to be there in the midst of such activity and therefore a memorable outing. The one thing David did want to do is tour the Hockey Hall of Fame. I’ve been before with Dad and Doug Baldwin, but there is so much to see and do, I didn’t mind going again. It really is such a fascinating place. And getting to get your photo with Lord Stanley’s cup, well, it is such a cool Canadian thing to do.

Then it was time for the Bluenosers to arrive. My Acadia pal Laura came for a long weekend with her husband David and two boys, Daniel and Thomas. It was the first time for the boys to fly and make a long trip with their parents so it was a bit of a test run for Laura and David. And I am grateful all went well. Doug and Patty took them to the Science Centre and a few other attractions and we all got together for a Sunday gathering at High Park. We had lunch together at the Grenadier Cafe and the kids enjoyed the small petting zoo and the playground (rebuilt recently by Mike Holmes).

The next spring event was a quick trip to Miami. Stay tuned!