Day 2 - Missing James's birthday (sniff) but I still get to go to a party!

Yes, eighteen years ago, James was born. My first baby.
Sigh. Eighteen seems like a big deal, for some reason. So I’m attaching two
videos – the first one makes me weepy, no matter what. The second one just
reminds me of when he was little – As much as I loathe Marineland, their commercials used to fascinate him - no matter what he was doing, he'd just stop, stare at the TV, and sway back and forth...






On the home front, I learned today that (a) the TV died and
(b) the van conked out in Etobicoke and (c) the kitchen is buried in dishes. Troy invoked images of the kitchen scene from Withnail & I. 

But the dog’s still alive, so there’s that.

Moving on...

Bought a pair of sunglasses today. I have a very small head, so finding a pair that fits me and doesn’t come with Mickey Mouse ears or
Hannah Montana logos is a bit of a quest. I just hope these ones don’t conjure up images of Elliott Gould’s character in the recent remake of Oceans Eleven.

On the up-side, all this walking around is really starting
to pay off! Seriously – after just 2 days, there is a noticeable difference in
certain, er, muscle groups. (Imagine if I had a tread-desk! I might even wear a bathing suit this summer!)

In my wanderings, look at what I came across...

And this is the sign for a restaurant around the corner. Who wouldn’t want to eat there? (By the way, ever listen to any of Rodrigo’s guitar music? Awesome. Though I'm sure the two aren't really connected. The musician was Spanish. This guy just looks crazed.) This is probably Rodrigo's most famous piece of music. It's beautiful - although he has also written some stuff that looks as though it might have been written by the fellow in the picture, too!

Finally, after a brief Skype conversation with my family, I attended a fabulous dinner hosted by the Association of Canadian Publishers. These lovely ladies were at my table: Racheli Edelman of Schocken Publishing House (Israel), Margie Wolfe of Second Story Press, Charlotte Teeple Executive Director of the Canadian Children's Book Centre, and Mary Macchiusi of Pembroke Publishers.

The food was amazing and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be a part of some fascinating conversation.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the week!