Live at Hotel Hayman

Username:	Password:
Forgot your password?	Remember Me

Open House
Ah....

Peace and quiet. It was a fabulous party. There were several neighbours, family, friends or ours, and friends of Rich and Erika. Thank you, lovely LJ friends who wished us luck!

The menu, but no photos, sorry. We made or assembled:

Antipasti
Veggies and our house dip
Olive selection
Cheese selection (the truffled cheese was awesome!)
Crackers
Breads
Herbed mini-biscuits
Baked ham (served cold) with apple butter
Salmon (poached and served cold) with ginger mayo and dill mayo
Duck and sun-dried tomato sausage with mustard
Devilled eggs the way my mom made them
Fruits with a dip (store bought dip and unimpressive)
Chocolate hazelnut cheesecake (super-awesome!)
Angel food cake with local strawberries and whipped cream
Biscotti
A large variety of beverages

Almost everyone who had committed came (one injury and one illness) and we had a couple of unexpected guests, so that was fine. I put out exactly one half of the food and even have leftovers from that, but we loved everything but the fruit dip, so that's no hardship.

Dave got a bit over-anxious, but that isn't new. We had a small enough group at any one time to be able to talk with everyone. Two of Erika's friends, a former classmate and a former professor, stayed a bit later, at our invitation, to chat at greater length. Lovely women!

We got at least a dozen compliments on the garden and at least a few on the state of the house. Many on the food.

Colour me happy, satisfied and damn tired!

Entertaining
Today we are hosting an Open House, in honour of Rich and Erika, for which 30 or so people will be dropping in. I took two days off work to get ready, and have needed every second. We have spiffed the house, cleaned, and man, oh, man, have I cooked! This morning we put the final touches on the house and the food.

Four hours from now, guests start arriving. Wish me luck?!

I suppose it could be crazier...
June has turned into quite the month. One of my co-workers is off sick for several weeks, and I've picked up most of her workload, on top of my own. June is, traditionally, sex ed month. So, puberty, puberty and STD's rule! In particular, teaching about STD's in a Catholic school can be, hmm, interesting... I've learned many techniques in side-stepping.

OTOH, did you know that the failure rate of abstinence is about 70%? But abstinence is all we're allowed to talk about in the Roman Catholic schools.

Yup, most people either forget to use it, leave it at home, get persuaded out of using it, or are forced out of using it. This gets sold to Grade 7 & 8 as: no hands inside the clothes, not hands below the waist, and no tongues. We are incredibly boring we adults, but there it is. I don't disagree with the RC message, but think it hopelessly out of step with the reality of kids' lives.

Meanwhile, Grade 7's are fairly commonly practising oral sex, at tremendous rick for STD's, though obviously not for pregnancy. Masturbation is an untouchable topic, and we're not to think about sex until marriage. As if.

So, I'll step off the soapbox...

We are madly gettin ready to host relatives we haven't seen, except at weddings and funerals, for many years. The menu is still in flux. Most of the big jobs around the house are done, but lots of little ones remain. While I feel like we've done a TON in a short time, and I'm ready to collapse with fatigue, there remains much more. These 14 hour days are getting to me.

Flying, and touch down
We have been moving at top speed this last week. So, aside from my pants remaining well and truly bankrupt, I feel totally productive, and decidedly weary. Seriously though, doesn't having a whole whack of family who haven't been to your house in twenty years make most people a little antsy? We are on the home stretch. Good thing: Rich arrives Wednesday. By then I hope to be deeply involved with cooking, and ONLY cooking.

Open house, no life
The invitations have gone out... Invitations you say? We are holding an Open House in honour of Richard and Erika. While the general idea is to invite family and friends who will not be at the wedding, we're also using this as an opportunity to see family we haven't seen in years.

However, that means we want the house pretty spiffy. Remember when, three years ago, we started renovating? That was because I, as an omniscient Mom (though not omniscient in any other regard) saw this coming. Whoo-hoo. We are not fully renovated, but appear to be hosting company anyway. No doubt we'll all live. But life is definitely busy.

Two weeks from today (June 22) is the Open House. Anyone got any really great menue ideas? I'd like to hear them!

Some mild whining
I'm presently in "stop the world, I want to get off!" mode. There's just a concatenation of too damn many things happening:

It's June, therefore it's sex ed season. Six classes last week, four this week, four booked for next week and another teacher wants to arrange a time. I do love seeing kids in the classroom, but this is a bit more of a feast than I prefer.

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. Our unit publication -- a hundred pages or so of advice for new parents -- is under revision. I'm an editor and specifically in charge of ensuring the literacy level is appropriate. It's amazing how many people cannot compose a piece of exposition that is less than Grade 15. It's also amazing how many people didn't know that the spell checker on the corporate software includes a readability feature.

We are trying to get invitations out for the party we are hosting when Rich and Erika are home in two weeks. Sending invitations when the honoured guests haven't got all the names to us is a bit tricky.

AGGGGGH. People who haven't been to our house!! What needs fixing up!

We have become intimately involved with a financial planner. The idea is to optimize our investments to plan for retirement in (cross our fingers) 2-3 years. This involves many meetings at the bank.

Dave is currently on sub-committees with the condo association. They are revising the rules and he is the voice of reason. Ah... A committee I don't belong to.

We are trying to decide exactly what flights and when for the trip we are, or are not, making after the wedding. That also means hotel bookings, sight-seeing plans, etc. etc.

The issue of THE DRESS (that's the dress for the mother of the groom) has already involved several shopping trips. Apparently larger ladies are only allowed to wear black this summer. BUT wait! I found a super green leaf print chiffon fabric and the most perfect pattern. I'll get the dress I want but I have to make it myself.

We had a concom meeting last Saturday, celebrated Dave's birthday last Sunday, I'm working this coming Saturday and we're dining with the future in-laws that evening. Please can I just have some time AT HOME?

And finally, I had an oopsy tummy with brain fog on the weekend, Dave had it mid-week. Not a big deal, but just got on our last nerves.

Maybe tonight I'll just read. Michelle Sagara's most recent book is being just yummy.

Wow, just reading that I feel tired. Oh. I really am tired.

Filking at Polaris
This is the second notice.

Calling all UFO'ers!

FKO is organizing the filk track at
Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek).

Essentially we will have a room and time to fill with filk. We currently have in mind a few panels, some theme filks and, of course, open filk. We've even been invited to do a couple of concerts!

The convention is July 11-13, 2008 at the Doubletree International Plaza on Dixon Road.

Please note: you MUST register and indicate that you will do panels in order to participate in programming. There is an online form, or a mail in form. Minimum registration is $20. Prereg cutoff is June 2, 2008.

On the other hand, if you let us know privately that you'll be attending, we'll have an idea of who to fit where. Filkers are welcome to sign up for other programming tracks.

Having a presence again at Polaris has been a goal of FilKONtario for a while. Please help us make it a success.

Feel free to express your interest (or lack of it) in comments to this post.

This notice will be posted again in one week.

Pants well and truly bankrupt!
I've read an occasional entry and commented a couple of times, but, well, I've been distracted.

The Friday before last, I had a horrible, horrible night, making Saturday and the filk difficult. Regrettably Saturday night I slept just as badly and walked around like a zombie all day Sunday. Got back on track and then did the same thing last Friday night. Grrr. Things seem better now, but...

Monday and Tuesday we watched The Andromeda Strain re-make. It was sufficiently good that I was fairly wound up when it ended. Got to sleep late. This made for a brain dead day at work, but I still managed to be perky and funny at the class I taught. (Nothing like a discussion about STD's to make a person perky -- not!)

Meantime we've been engaged in all sorts of "home" things. It's all good, including the many wanders around garden centres, but not conducive to a lot of computing. Right now I'm working on weeding out the many duplicates in my filk collection -- not CD's and what not, but songs. One recycle bin is already filled. And I'm sewing drapes for the bedroom. This is in addition to the beadwork and the family history work.

Why, yes, I DO have too many hobbies!

Got something interesting in your LJ that I missed? Please point me at it!

And more filk
Everything old is new again: it would appear that there will be filk at Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek). TT was the con that many of us cut our fandom teeth on. It was certainly where I learned how to run programming, laise with guests and set up contracts. That started twenty years ago.

Theoretically filk was to be

pwl1 and me, on behalf of FilKONtario, with Peggi taking the lead because of this wedding I have soon. I'm not official yet :-), but that doesn't stop me from being curious. And I'll probably have to do something with my totally inactive Facebook account...

How many of you thought of going to Polaris?
Does have some filk (a sort of quarter of a track) make a difference?
Are you attending and would like to participate in filk programming?

Nothing is completely firm yet. But let us know if you're interested. You should check out the Polaris site for how panelists are handled.

Recognizing that a good many are heading to cons this weekend, this post will appear at least once or twice more.

Satisfied
Just for myself, I took a three whole days off. In combination with the Victoria Day holiday, that was six days in a row. Mini-vacation? Well, yes. And no.

We/I have:

- sealed the floor in the former craft room, former Jen's bedroom (cat pee does NOT make me happy)
- painted this room to match the lovely bedding we already had
- decided to not bring up a carpet from the basement, but simply put in new carpet
- found and purchased said carpet, brought it home and installed it
- spent the better part of two days in re-assembling the new guest room and the former guest room, now craft room. Still not done. There's a LOT of stuff
- purchased our plants for this season
- planned where plants will go
- spent a morning fact-finding with florists for Jen
- spent an afternoon and evening at a filk (much fun, very chatty, Sue and Tom's FIRST filk since they married. Sigh)
- watched Stardust on DVD. Loved it.
- watched Enchanted on DVD. Liked it a lot, despite high level ear and eye candy
- spent enough time to add 200 relatives to my family tree, and that's all just my mom's family.
- taken apart Jen's dress for the first round of alteration (shortening the skirt, which has to be done from the waist, not from the hem because of the beading)
- started a long-delayed beading project owed to

spiritdance
- thoroughly, totally and absolutely enjoyed the time off so far.

Tuesday will come all too soon, but it's been a great break.

The birds woke me early... but there are few things nicer to wake to than birdsong right outside my window.

The sun also contributed to early waking... but a sunny day is nothing to sneeze at!

The knowledge that, after today, I have six days off. I don't go to work again until next Tuesday, and that's absolutely the most relaxing thing in my universe.

Dave's contract finished last Friday and he is also around. We'll working on an inside project and the garden and whole bunch of fun things to do with about half our time.

The other half? Kick back and enjoy.

Flying on the ground
On Thursday and Friday I'll be at a regional breastfeeding conferenece. I'm on the organizaing committee as treasurer and registratrar. So, the last few days have been a bit harried. It promises to be a superb conference, but I'm literally counting the hours until this particular BIG obligation is off my shoulders.

This evening I'm off to the hotel. We have committee work to finish off before opening at ohmigod in the morning Thursday. Pool. Hot tub. Wireless. Smile.

See you all on the weekend.

Picking up pieces -- DD
What a very, very nice day today was!

In my picking up the pieces of lapsed hobbies, today I went to a gathering of CanaDDians, or Canadian devotees of Dorothy Dunnett. Marvellous to be welcomed so warmly with hugs all around from old friends! Bel, Pat, Tina and Marilyn were in fine form, and lovely to meet Jan and husband as well. We gathered for lunch at The Lake House in Vineland (food only fairly okay, prices high).

We spent the many hours in animated conversation as Dunnetters are wont to do. Much joking and sharing of tails, and generally, the best references for a good read anywhere. We all agree that after reading Dunnett, few other authors can compare. Of course we also talked of gatherings in the past, the next Spit in Paris, travel (always with DD fans!), families, grandkids and quite a range of current issues.

In a group of extremely smart, well-spoken, high achievers, it is amazing the consensus we have in not just loving Dorothy as a writer, but as a person, and how profoundly we all respect everything she explemplified.

Of course, quite typically it was also raucous fun, as we tried to select the very WORST cover ever put on a DD novel. There were just SO many candidates! Personally the blousy bimbo wearing an unlikely bright yellow about a hundred years out of date (for the period) got my vote. Though the tartan tights were a competitor.

My accidental little post about SO (Southern Ontario) CanaDDians, was picked up as our name. We are SO CanaDDian. And I didn't get the joke until they told me.

Gosh it was great to see everyone again!

QUESTION:
And what author do you adore that most people have never heard of?

letting hobbies collide
Today was the Toronto Bead Society Spring Bead Fair. Yum. We tottled down to TO this morning, but with gas at the price it is, thought it best to combine several quests. The Archives of Ontario are two blocks from the Bead Show, so Dave went on assignment there to hunt up some ancestor info, while I went to the bead show.

Alas I could not find the conical bails I need desperately. Shall post those later to challenge friends. It certainly challenged all the dealers I spoke with. I spent a whopping $20 at the show, which made me very serene about picking up lunch to take to Dave. Under normal circumstances I could easily spend $200 at a place like that. But I did that recently with

kbeader.

At the Archives we scored a key will, and a two highly desired land records. Not much return for several hours work, but exactly for what I wanted. I'm at that stage in the mystery where tiny details emerge slowly. So, Yay!

Errand number three, to justify the gas, was to stop at Steve's Music for a Kyser shortcut capo. (Outtake: the price of capos is inversely proportional to the distance from Steve's Music. They are $15 in Toronto, $25 in Hamilton, $35 in Simcoe. I've done the field research) The clerk there was unbelievably rude. Okay, that b word fits well. Nonetheless they didn't have any. Swore they never had any. Stated that the friend who bought one there recently was lying. Wipeout.

Errand four was finding the plain fabric that goes with the fabulous embroidered fabric I bought last week. With only a vague grasp on the name, we found the place (Mac Fab)without any difficulty, although anyone who drives Queen Street on a Saturday is placing their life in peril. Alas the fabric was out of stock, but they took my number to let me know when it's restocked and I was able to buy a couple of hard-to-find notions. Sewing shops are like candy stores, only better.

On the way home it did not rain, it did not pour. The heavens opened and it felt like being swept by waves of water, while cars slid about quite playfully. Dave, the driver, is my hero. Three hours later the sun is shining.

Oddities -- Good times and Bad times
I have to look outside to remind myself that it's raining and nasty because I had a GREAT day. Today was the first McMaster University Alumni PD Day (that's professional development). Outstanding speakers, great lunch, good company.

The final keynote speaker, John Meighton, could have been a filker, he understands the principal. Instead he's a math prof and playwright. He founded a charity JUMP that helps students struggling with math. His conviction that guided practice and opportunities to succeed are remarkable similar to those espoused by the filk community. His philosophy is one that can easily be extropolated to work with other learning areas.

This evening I did something that one of the other speakers recommended: googled myself. It's very apparent that I'm involved in SF and filk and musical things in general. While I didn't imagine myself as a lead character in a Star Trek fanfic, there I am. Some years ago, L.A. Graf asked to attach my name to a book character -- an admiral of all things, a DS9 novel, Time's Enemy -- which thrilled me to pieces (though I don't outrank

trektone. The fic is called Legends and belongs to a German blogger. I'm befuddled! It feels very, very weird.

Yesterday, we learned that, in addition to two excellent part time university jobs in his program, Rich has been awarded a fairly prestigious scholarship. Not official yet, so no specifics.

Yesterday, we learned that a member of the filk community, Eric Layman had died completely unexpectedly. Our deepest sympathies to Eric's family.

Yesterday, we learned that

daisyknotwise and

billroper had a lovely new daughter to celebrate. Congratulations!

As always, the light and the dark are entwined.

Tomorrow... Well, we'll see.

Quiet
The whole lead up to FilKONtario is fairly full, in a busy, but mostly not overwhelmed, kind of way. I secretly quite enjoy, except that probably now makes it not secret. What I find weird, every year, is the sudden thud, where my e-mail is quiet and my attention is not required at the computer. I start to feel out of touch... I start to read LJ again ;-D.

On the other hand, I also get to take up projects that have been put off for months. Jennifer's new spring coat has now been hemmed, and I've acquired a couple of new techniques. It's a gorgeous London Fog that she got for a song last December, and needed to be partly deconstructed then re-constructed. I am one with

ohiblather in sewing. Other projects upcoming include drapes for the bedroom (I LOVE making drapes!), upholstering Jenn's dining room chairs, and some items for myself. Then there's the project of doom: altering the wedding gown to fit (Jenn is 2 inches shorter and somewhat more well-endowed than the dress pattern). This involves deconstructing and reconstructing, so the raincoat project, while infinitely simpler, was reassuring. No doubt bits and pieces will appear here, but not the whole dress. That will have to wait until next January.

Gardening season is also on the way, though I think I shall scale back a bit this year. My perennials are growing well and filling in beautifully. Baskets for colour and herbs will likely be most of what I do this year. My roses all over-wintered very well and are sprouting like crazy. Silly flowers don't know there may yet be frost.

Beading, sewing, gardening.... It all sounds very domestic. In truth, I often struggle with the pull between the desire to keep my domestic hobbies and talents blooming, and also be a professional, maintain an active reading life, get my steps and other exercise in, play with the cat, talk to husband and family, see friends.

It makes me tired when I think about all the possibilities, but I'm extremely happy to have all those choices.

Wherein the beads take over
Thanks to

kbeader I developed a beading addiction a few years ago. Like a number of other things, beading went to the back burner over the last year, while I pursued other passions. Well, it's back. With a vengeance!

I've just spent the better part of two weeks sorting and storing beads. My feeling is that I'm like a dragon with my horde of shiny pretty things. My horde is quite small compared to the aforesaid

kbeader but it's not that small either.

You must understand that part of the reason of buying beads to just to have them. They're fun to touch (so smooth), shiny, pretty, lots of colours, shapes and sizes. Did I mention that they're shiny and pretty? Half the fun of owning them is just (ahem) to PLAY with them. One can sort by type, shape, size, colour, potential projects, and any number of other categories. They are most satisfying!

Now, husbands don't quite get that part. They tend to cut straight to "And you're going to use these for what?" So it was with some trepidation that I came home from the Creative Festival with a bag from my favourite bead pusher, That Bead Lady. Y'know, is absolutely amazing just many dollars a teensy little shopping bag of beads can cost. My thought was that husband would immediately say, "How could you need that many beads -- you were there only two weeks ago!" It's true.

kbeader made our annual pilgrimage on the Friday of FilKONtario. But these beads are different beads. Right?

So, now I have to find room. I have two cute little IKEA mini-chests with three drawers, all full of beads. Five small parts storage boxes. Two large storage boxes. A tool kit, travel bag and several project boards, two looms and five partially finished projects.

Did I mention how shiny and pretty they all are?

FKO
I think I may be just a few days behind everyone else in posting. Not really sorry. I've been having fun.

FKO was absolutely the best time ever, except maybe for a couple of other FKO's. When a conchair says that, some things must have gone right.

Multiple thanks to vixy and Tony, Bill Roper, Marilyn Miller, Heather Bruton, the Bedlam Bards, Urban Tapestry, Heather Dale and Ju Honisch for their various presentations, workshops and concerts. I could go on at great length about highlights for each.

Big hugs to Sue and Tom for their lovely wedding which kicked off the convention in fine style. Dave snivelled and I grinned from ear to ear through the ceremony. Weird Auntie Judith is proud of you both.

A special thanks goes to Karen Paddison who lead the charge with the local Browncoats in bringing the Bards to Canada. Honey, there's a concom just looking for your kind of talent.

The HoF Banquet and Concert were fun, as always. Congratulations to Collen and Steve, Bob and Ann. It was an honour to sing two of Ann's songs in the HoF Concert. I'm thinking of ways to streamline the concert, or do it differently. Suggestions are welcome. Hell, suggestions for any aspect of FKO are always welcome.

To everyone who attended, thank you. We set up a place for you to puddle around in and you never disappoint or fail to surprise us.

I deeply regret only one thing: I can't stay up as long and sing/listen AND be a conchair. Wah! Good thing I sang my brains out at Ad Astra, so I didn't miss it so much at FKO.

Only fifty one weeks to FKO 19

It must be FilKONtario time!
I'm home. Not working. Okay, not AT work, because I'm busting my ass to clean, pack, etc. But the sun is shining, things are coming together, I found all the things I needed to buy and life is good.

We will be heading for the con sometime tomorrow, so if there are questions for me, please ask them soon, 'cause the cat doesn't answer the phone. We will however have a laptop, but, since I'd rather be doing laps (in the pool) than laptopping, may be slow to check e-mail.

It's going to be an absolutely FABULOUS con.

Please spare a moment...
To recall the amazing Sir Arthur C. Clarke who passed away in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.

We all have our entry points into SF, and Clarke was mine. His career in both science and science fiction was outstanding. The link is to a brief BBC obit.

Rest well.